THE Scottish Greens have called for an "urgent” investigation into Donald Trump’s business assets in Scotland following his civil fraud case in New York.
Patrick Harvie has renewed calls to look into how the former US president was able to buy golf resorts in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire.
The Scottish Government previously decided not to pursue an Unexplained Wealth Order in 2021, with Humza Yousaf, the then-justice secretary, telling MSPs it would be an “abuse of power” to launch a probe into Trump’s finances.
In February, a judge ruled that Trump, his company and key executives deceived bankers and insurers by producing financial statements that hugely overstated his fortune.
He was ordered to pay $355 million (£279.9m) in penalties, with interest charges pushing the sum higher.
In a letter to the First Minister and the Lord Advocate, Harvie said it was time to look at Trump’s Scottish property portfolio.
Harvie commented: “The verdict from New York, and the litany of scandals surrounding Donald Trump, underlines the urgent need to get to the bottom of the former president’s finances and the business he runs.
“With every passing day we are seeing even more serious questions about the honesty, integrity and basic trustworthiness of the former president.
“I urge Scottish ministers to look again at the request for an Unexplained Wealth Order and to follow the money to see where it goes.
“The case for Scottish ministers to investigate Trump is now urgent and overwhelming. Scotland cannot be a country where anyone with the money is able to buy whatever land and property they want without question.”
There have long been questions over how Trump, the Republican party’s presumptive presidential nominee, purchased his golf clubs in Scotland.
Unlike almost every other project he bankrolls, Trump (above) did not take out large loans to finance the venture, instead spending more than $300m in cash.
In his letter, Harvie noted: “We now have indisputable and independent evidence in the public domain that Trump’s business dealings, including those in Scotland, were linked to fraud.
“Yet while Trump is finally being held to account by the legal system in the US, Scotland’s Civil Recovery Unit have provided the same comment that they provided in 2021, that they cannot ‘confirm or deny’ whether a civil recovery investigation has commenced.”
