Fraud probe at Scottish Borders Council

David Knox • Published 27 Aug 2010 09:30 0 Comments

POLICE have been called into the headquarters of Scottish Borders Council to launch a fraud investigation.

It is believed around £20,000 is missing from the books of the sports department.

Internal auditors noticed the financial irregularity earlier this month and a probe, involving Lothian and Borders Police, was launched last week.

Sergeant Andy Leigh told us: “Lothian and Borders Police can confirm that they are currently cooperating with Scottish Borders Council and progressing an enquiry regarding alleged financial irregularity by a staff member”.

Finances at Newtown St Boswells were tightened up almost a decade ago after a lack of monitoring procedures led to a £4 million overspend by the education department - resulting in major cuts.

Further improvements in recent years have brought in even tighter accountancy checks within all departments.

A spokesperson for Scottish Borders Council said; “A member of staff is the subject of an investigation which is currently underway. We cannot provide any further details.”

Chiefs at the cash-strapped council don’t believe the missing money will affect any planned sporting events.

Leader David Parker said: “The investigation won’t impact on any of our services.”

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This article appeared in Peeblesshire News 27 Aug 10

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