Two bosses of a major Scots haulage firm who went bust have been accused of a £200,000 fraud involving police escort contracts.
James Campbell, former director of West of Scotland Heavy Haulage, and his ex transport manager Edward Bruce, are accused of altering paperwork for services provided to the firm by police in Scotland and Wales and overcharging firms in Spain and Denmark for the transportation of wind turbine parts.
Campbell, 50, and Bruce, 30, appeared at Airdrie Sheriff Court on Tuesday, where they denied two charges of fraud.
The now-dissolved firm was one of the country’s leading wind turbine transporters and had a turnover of around £11million, with lucrative contracts in mining, civil engineering and construction.
The business, based in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, ceased trading in 2017 and sub-contractors were appointed to finish three major contracts.
The Record revealed a police investigation had been launched soon after.
Campbell, of Bearsden, and Bruce, of Cumbernauld, are accused of pretending to representatives at Siemens Gamesa - a renewable energy firm registered in Navarra, Spain, who had entered into a contract with their company - that the cost of police escorts provided by the Scottish Police Authority and South Wales Police was higher than charged.
They are alleged to have induced the firm to pay inflated costs by altering invoices, obtaining £166,221.39 from the Spanish firm by fraud between May 11, 2016 and August 11, 2017.
The men face a second charge of carrying out the same fraud in relation to a contract with global logistics firm DSV Air and Sea, based in Aarhus, Denmark, to the value of £34,609.83.
The offence is alleged to have taken place between January 25 and June 29, 2017.
West of Scotland Heavy Haulage had picked up awards for their turbine transportation.
Administrators FRP Advisory said at the time of the the collapse of the firm and their associated trading company, West of Scotland Storage Limited, that it was down to “severe operational and financial problems”.
Campbell and Bruce will return to court in September, with a trial scheduled for October.
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