Victims of an embezzlement scandal at a Scots Women’s Aid branch have slammed a jailed manager’s £18,000 legal aid bill - saying they can’t afford a lawyer to help recoup their ‘stolen’ pensions.
A group of whistleblowers previously told the Record how the jailing of Jay Reid, a former manager at the charity’s Argyll and Bute branch, in February merely “scratched the surface” of a scandal centred on “millions” of pounds of charity cash.
The three women spoke out after the 67-year-old was locked up for 20 months for embezzling almost £40,000, which was blown on luxury holidays and jewellery.
Whistleblowers' claims
Debbie Lansdowne, Janine Calder and Marie Maclean told how they also reported long-running money concerns over a second manager, claiming they were robbed of pension pots while struggling to find cash to provide for vulnerable women and kids.
Now it has emerged that Reid’s trial cost the public purse £17,885 in solicitor’s fees and outlays, despite her already squandering away thousands of pounds of charity cash while heading up the Scottish Government-funded service.
Furious Marie said she has been given no support in finding out how she can recover pension contributions claimed in her name during the betrayal which she was told she was not entitled to.
Victim's outrage
She said: “I am absolutely appalled by this. Nearly £18,000 of public money was spent on Jay Reid’s legal representation, yet the victims of her years of embezzlement have been left to fight for their own pensions with no support whatsoever.
“She will probably be released from prison early and still have her pension intact, while we are simply expected to accept our losses because none of us are in a financial position to pursue legal action. To me, it’s an absolute mockery of the system.
“The person convicted of the crime received publicly-funded legal representation, yet the victims have been left with nothing. It feels incredibly unjust that so much public money was spent defending her while those who suffered the financial consequences have been left to fight on alone.
“She should be made to pay this back.”
Details of the embezzlement
Reid pocketed charity cash between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2016, working as a manager of the children’s service.
After her sentencing, the whistleblowers claimed that another former manager who has since died, Pamela McDonald, also splashed charity cash which is desperately needed to operate the Dunoon base.
They first reported concerns to government officials in 2016 after discovering a government funding application with figures for thousands of pounds in pension payments the employees had not been receiving.
Audit findings
An independent government audit that year uncovered £87,000 in “overclaims” dating back to 2012 and an income of more than £2million over the four-year period. But auditors found no evidence of misappropriation of funds.
The new management of the charity branch said “the actions of past employees” represented a “serious breach of trust”. It said that the organisation had taken steps since 2017 to strengthen “financial controls, oversight arrangements, and reporting processes”.
It said matters raised by former employees and whistleblowers, including the issue of pensions, involve “complex issues which may fall within the remit of external bodies and processes”.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Legal Aid Board said: “Legal aid is paid directly to lawyers so that people accused of serious crimes are properly represented, helping the justice system function effectively and to ensure a jury can reach appropriate verdicts in a timely manner.”
