Money seized from a Scottish company caught giving kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime will be used to benefit the Boys’ Brigade in Dundee.
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill announced a £1.5 million expansion of the CashBack for Communities programme on a visit to the 6/8th BB unit in Lochee on Thursday.
He told The Courier the latest round of money for the scheme, which distributes the proceeds of crime to worthwhile community causes, is largely the result of profits seized from the Weir Group.
A total of £13.9 million was confiscated from the Glasgow engineering firm this month after it admitted bribing allies of the Iraqi dictator to secure lucrative oil contracts.
Part of that money will be used for a £500,000 investment in a grant scheme run by Youth Scotland that helps youth groups including the Dundee BB unit set up new facilities or expand their existing work.
“We are delighted at the scheme and even more delighted at the good use the Boys’ Brigade, Scouts, Girl Guides and other groups have put the money to,” he said.
“It was an unexpected Christmas present for them and they will put it to good use.
“It is important that we provide for kids that don’t cause problems as well as those who get into trouble.
“It would be a perverse world if we didn’t provide for the youngsters not causing problems.”
Other new funding announcements included £350,000 going to Tayside Police’s Just Play pilot, which promotes healthy play activities for children under three from deprived or vulnerable families in Angus.
The Prince’s Trust will get £300,000 to give out small cash grants to buy vital books and equipment for young people going through school, college or who are in employment.
A further £200,000 will go to Scottish Power for its work in the government’s Personal Development Partnership, which works with young people at a high risk of offending to help them find work or training.
Working on Wheels, a scheme that funds mobile projects to help local organisations such as church and community groups, will get £150,000.
Mr MacAskill said more funding will be announced next year.Horizons”Including today’s announcement, we have now committed nearly £24 million of crooks’ money to CashBack, helping in excess of 300,000 youngsters expand their horizons by getting involved in projects that simply would not have existed otherwise,” he said.
“I look forward to seeing this money put to good use, and anticipate making further CashBack announcements in the New Year.”
Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick said the programme had been a “tremendous success.”
“I am particularly pleased that this money is going to help the kids who are a credit to our communities and the boys of the 6/8th are a real credit to their parents, their BB officers and the community of Lochee,” he added.
The Weir Group was also fined £3 million at the High Court in Edinburgh after admitting two charges of breaching United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq before the 2003 invasion.
The money should have been used for humanitarian purposes to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people under the UN’s Oil For Food programme, but went to the dictatorship instead.
It was previously announced that a “significant sum” from the confiscated money would be put towards the Scottish Government’s international development work.
The SNP and Labour demanded the end of a cap on the amount of money that can be used for the Cashback for Communities scheme.
There is a limit of £30 million per year of confiscated criminal cash that can stay in Scotland, with any excess handed over to the UK Treasury.
Mr MacAskill said it is crucial the cap is lifted so the money is put to good use rather than being “swallowed up” in the Treasury “black hole.”
“We want to make sure every penny goes back into the community,” he said.
Labour MSP Lord George Foulkes said, “It is not often that I agree with the SNP and Kenny MacAskill but, along with the lord advocate, I think it’s right that the cap on the proceeds of crime is lifted.
“Often the best place to hit criminals is in the pocket and I am writing to the home secretary to ask if she will ensure that the cap is removed.”