A FRESH call for Scotland to investigate Donald Trump’s finances has been made by the Scottish Greens.
Since February 2017, the party’s co-leader Patrick Harvie has led calls for an investigation into the purchase of land for Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire and the Trump Turnberry resort in Ayrshire.
He has argued that the Scottish Government should grant an Unexplained Wealth Order, a mechanism that allows investigations into “politically exposed persons” like Trump suspected of involvement in serious crime.
It comes after the New York State Supreme Court found Trump and his company guilty of civil fraud in February last year, finding them guilty of falsely inflating the value of Trump’s assets – including his golf course in Aberdeen – which he has appealed.
The former president was also subsequently convicted by a New York jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Now, Harvie (below) has called again for the Scottish Government to grant an Unexplained Wealth Order.
In a column for The National, he said: “Given that the criminal charges brought against Trump in New York cited his Menie golf estate in Aberdeenshire, getting answers from the Trump Organisation as to the valuation of his property and where he got the money from is the responsible thing for our own government to do.
“Otherwise, we are sending a global message that wealthy individuals in positions of power like Trump are above the law. That sets a dangerous precedent, one that cannot become Scotland’s legacy.”
Harvie added: “He has faced many losses with business ventures going bust and claiming bankruptcy. And yet he continues to keep a foothold in Scotland, with his golf estates barely turning profits until after he was charged and scrutinised in court.
“Scotland is not in short supply of golf courses, but it seems that we are in short supply of moral fibre. That was demonstrated when the Scottish planning system was overturned to allow him to build his golf course in the first place, trashing a piece of coastline which, at least on paper, had the highest level of environmental protection possible.
“But that same lack of courage in holding the super-rich to account is still being demonstrated today, with every day that passes without the Government using its power to find out where the money for Trump’s business dealings in Scotland actually came from.”
The Greens MSP went on: “Trump is a politically active individual who has purposely shielded his tax information to avoid public scrutiny, the first US president who is a convicted criminal, and an individual with dozens of allegations of sexual assault spanning back to the 1970s.
“But the title of president does not make him immune to following laws in his own country or ours. If anything, it should make our Government duty-bound to enforce those laws and hold him to account, to set an example for the world to follow.
“Self-proclaimed elites like Trump do not get a free pass just because they are powerful. He must face the same scrutiny and legal challenges as our own politicians and citizens do.”
