THE Scottish Liberal Democrats are under investigation over possible spending irregularities at the last Holyrood election.
The party are currently under investigation by the Electoral Commission following a complaint about spending in the 2016 election, with particular focus on Alex Cole-Hamilton's Edinburgh Western seat.
The party could face a heavy fine if the watchdog rules that they knowingly or recklessly broke the law.
The UK Lib Dems faced a similar investigation last year, resulting in a maximum fine of £20,000 for failing to declare hundreds of payments during the general election in 2015.
Cole-Hamilton won the Edinburgh Western seat in 2016, taking it from the SNP.
However, his campaign only stayed under the spending cap by declaring thousands of pounds of expenses as part of the party's list campaign in the Lothians, and to the party's local branch.
Cole-Hamilton's campaign focused on delivering leaflets that exploited an alleged scandal around former SNP MP Michelle Thomson.
The Scottish inquiry, launched earlier this month, will seek to find if the spending was correctly reported.
It will also be seeking answers on why almost £2000 of funds that was identified as list spending was omitted from the party's national return.
A spokesman for the LibDems said: “All expenditure in this election was apportioned correctly and clearly identified in our election return which is a matter of public record. We have full confidence that there is no substance to this complaint.”
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said: “The ‘Scottish Liberal Democrats’ submitted the party’s spending return for the 2016 Scottish Parliament election and the Commission has begun an investigation into the party’s spending return.”
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