Shamed ex-SNP politician Natalie McGarry has been found guilty of pocketing nearly £25,000 from two pro-Scottish independence groups.
McGarry faces jail again after an earlier conviction for the crime was quashed by appeal judges in 2019.
The 41-year-old former MP for Glasgow East embezzled the cash despite receiving thousands from family, friends and colleagues.
Jurors heard how McGarry needed a loan from Health Secretary Humza Yousaf to stave off eviction in 2014.
McGarry’s bank account showed money coming in and almost immediately going out from the group, Women For Independence – spent on rent, takeaways, grocery shopping as well as a holiday to Spain.
McGarry often complained about being “skint”, despite her then £67,000-a-year Westminster salary in 2015.
She also received £15-20,000 over three years from dad Brian as well as thousands from aunt – former presiding officer – Tricia Marwick.
McGarry was eventually caught in 2015 after a financial probe.
She was convicted by a jury at Glasgow Sheriff Court of two charges of embezzlement after three hours of deliberations.
The charges
McGarry, 41, who represented Glasgow East for the SNP, had denied stealing more than £25,000 from two organisations advocating for Scottish independence, between April 2013 and August 2015.
She was found guilty of embezzling £21,000 while treasurer for Women for Independence (WFI) between April 26 2013 and November 30 2015.
A second charge stated she took £4,661 between April 9 2014 and August 10 2015 when she was treasurer, secretary and convenor of Glasgow Regional Association (GRA) of the SNP.
An allegation some of the funds, from a collection, should have been donated to Perth and Kinross Foodbank was deleted from the charge by the jury.
Sentence was deferred pending background reports until next month by sheriff Tom Hughes.
He said: “The jury heard during crowd funding there were a lot of people contributing to that while they were not able to afford it…it must have been known to you and despite that you were happy to misuse funds accumulated by this organisation for your own use.
“As a result of all the available information to them and your involvement in working with these organisations, you were successfully nominated for potential election on two separate occasions.
“You were successfully a member of parliament and as all this was going on the jury established you were involved in embezzling funds from these organisations – this was a very serious breach of trust which the organisations placed on you.”
McGarry had her bail continued meantime.
The trial
Among the witnesses called to the six-week trial were health secretary Humza Yousaf and his predecessor in the role Jeane Freeman.
Mr Yousaf said he loaned McGarry £600 to help pay her rent and it was later paid back.
Ms Freeman was a fellow Women for Independence member who spoke of how she came to mistrust her colleague’s financial operation of the group.
The group eventually called in police after an accountant went over the books.
Other parliamentarians to appear included John Mason MSP , Anne McLaughlin MP and Ms Marwick.
Prosecutors said there were “patterns” in McGarry’s use of funds transferred to her own bank account while in charge of the finances of two pro-Scottish independence organisations.
Alistair Mitchell said some of the money was spent on personal expenses such as rent and shopping, which was a “breach of trust.”
In evidence, McGarry maintained she had been overwhelmed by the workload but had never stolen funds.
In summing up, her solicitor Allan MacLeod, said the finances were “disorganised” and “chaotic” and there was an “element of burying her head in that sand”.
Previous conviction quashed
In December 2019 McGarry had an earlier conviction for embezzlement quashed after judges ruled she had suffered a miscarriage of justice.
Earlier that year she had been sentenced to 18 months in prison over the same embezzlement charge.
She was freed on bail a few days later after lodging an appeal.
McGarry was elected as an SNP MP in 2015 but resigned the party whip after the allegations against her were first made.
She did not seek re-election in the 2017 general election.
