One of the most significant grassroots organisations to emerge from the Scottish independence referendum campaign has revealed that tens of thousands of pounds have gone missing from donations.
Women for Independence (WFI) informed Police Scotland on Sunday night of the significant discrepancies between its donation income and expenditure.
The campaign group was founded in 2012 by activists including the SNP MP for Glasgow East, Natalie McGarry.
The group’s national committee was informed of the missing donations at a meeting on Sunday afternoon. Police Scotland confirmed it had received the report but said it could give no further information at this time.
In an email sent to members on Sunday evening, the organisation spoke of its disappointment that “we now have reason to believe that trust may have been abused”.
It went on: “Following concerns being raised, and painstaking efforts to ensure we have gathered extensive and accurate information, we have been placed in the position of having no choice but to ask the police to help us.
“We have passed the information we have been able to gather to the police and as a result there is now a live investigation. We know you will understand that, in the interest of due process and justice, that limits what we can say.”
The group had its first AGM in March and said it adopted a constitution and “robust and appropriate systems”. The email said that concerns over financial probity emerged in late summer.“For several weeks now we have been examining the finances of the organisation for the last financial year, 2014/2015.
“We have identified an apparent discrepancy between our donation income and the expenditure which we currently have evidence of. We have exhausted all opportunities of obtaining adequate evidence or explanation to account for this discrepancy.”
WFI was formed to include women’s voices in the referendum debate, which it was felt had been missing.
A few weeks after the referendum vote on 18 September 2014, in which Scotland voted no to independence, the organisation held its first national conference in Perth, attracting more than a thousand women.
Since then, WFI has carved out a permanent position in Scottish civic society, campaigning on a range of issues, including successfully opposing the building of a super-prison for women this year. It now has 51 affiliated groups across Scotland, many of which are currently working on refugee rights and food poverty.
