Natalie McGarry, who represented Glasgow East between 2015 and 2017, was convicted of two counts of embezzlement – totaling 6 24,635 – in May following a trial in Glasgow County Sheriff. A court found her guilty by a majority on the charge of embezzlement £ 19,974 while she was treasurer of Women for Independence (WFI) between April 26, 2013 and November 30, 2015. He was also found guilty by a majority of a second charge of taking £ 4,661 between April 9, 2014 and August 10, 2015, when he was treasurer, secretary and senator of the SNP Glasgow Regional Association. Condemning McGarry, Sheriff Tom Hughes said he betrayed people who trusted her and that a custodial sentence was imminent. He told her: “It is clear that society has the right to expect the highest standards from those who seek and ultimately achieve high public office. “Through your role in these crimes, not only have you betrayed the trust shown to you by others, but your standards are much lower than those that the public should have the right to expect from MPs.” During the six-week trial, the court heard dozens of witnesses, including former Scottish Health Minister Jeane Freeman, who said she mentioned McGarry after noticing a significant deficit in the WFI accounts. Freeman said she had no idea that donations made to the Crowdfunder Group’s Independence went from the agency’s PayPal account to McGarry’s personal bank account. She also expressed frustration with McGarry’s delay in delivering receipts and invoices that would show what the funds were spent on. The court also heard from witnesses that McGarry was in financial difficulty and regularly borrowed from family and friends. That included Humza Yousaf, the Scottish health secretary, who gave McGarry 600 600 to prevent eviction. The court also saw McGarry’s bank records showing Crowdfunder donations from the WFI transferred to her personal account. It included 10. 10,472.52 on April 29, 2014 and an additional 8 9,848.70 on November 12, 2014 – which paid for rent and purchases. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am McGarry had said that these were legal expenses she had incurred and for which she was being reimbursed. McGarry was elected a member of the SNP in 2015, but resigned from the party following allegations of fraud, which she denied. He continued in parliament as an independent MP representing East Glasgow, but did not seek re-election in 2017.
