Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) chief executive Gordon Maclennan has been suspended after a Sunday Mail investigation revealed he had been driving an illegal cloned car on holiday.
Maclennan, who is the highest-paid public transport boss in Scotland, will remain suspended while an investigation is carried out, SPT tonight confirmed.
The chief executive had a VW Passat in his staff car park and another at his holiday home – both with the same SF02 ORB registration.
Last week the Sunday Mail photographed the £153,000-a-year public sector director driving a cloned silver Passat on the Isle of Lewis while his son Stuart, who is a police officer, sat in the passenger seat.
At the same time, 300 miles away in Glasgow, an almost identical blue Passat car with the same registration plate was pictured at his office.
According to public records, a blue version of the car is MOT-ed with the DVLA and taxed.
Organised criminals often use car cloning - a highly illegal practice - to commit an offence later associated with another vehicle.
Cloning can also be used to avoid costs such as insurance, MOT's and road tax if a legitimate car’s reg plate is put on one of a similar make and model.
SPT tonight confirmed that Maclennan had now been suspended following the story's publication.
The 69-year-old denied all allegations to a Sunday Mail reporter.
An SPT spokesperson said: “Mr Maclennan is now suspended while an investigation is carried out.”
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