GLASGOW East MP Natalie McGarry has been charged in connection with embezzlement, breach of trust and other allegations relating to fraud.
The arrest follows a 10-month investigation by Police Scotland following complaints from Women for Independence, a campaign group the former SNP MP helped form in 2012, over a significant amount of money that could not be accounted for.
Other charges are believed to relate to money missing from the accounts of the SNP’s Glasgow Regional Association, first reported in The National in March. After that story appeared McGarry promised to account for a sum, thought to be around £4,000.
However, in June this year the association reluctantly reported the MP to Police Scotland.
McGarry’s solicitor Aamer Anwar told The National: “Natalie McGarry attended with myself this morning on a voluntary basis for an interview with Police Scotland. She was detained and questioned.
“Following this interview she was charged with several offences, including the embezzlement of funds, breach of trust, and offences under the Scottish Referendum Act 2013.
“She will be released today [Tuesday] and will be the subject of a report to the Procurator Fiscal.”
McGarry has always previously denied any wrongdoing.
Police first started investigating the MP in November 2015, when Women for Independence reported a suspected £35,000 of donations from members had gone missing. She withdrew from the SNP's whip then, saying she had done nothing wrong but that it was in the "best interests of the party" .
McGarry had been elected to represent Glasgow East for with a majority of 10,387 in the last general election, beating Scottish Labour's Margaret Curran.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “We can confirm that on 27 September, a 35-year-old woman was charged in connection with alleged fraud offences. A report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.”
The charges do not mean McGarry will need to stand down as an MP.
Erskine May, effectively the rules of the House of Commons, only disqualifies MPs if they are imprisoned for more than a year.
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