FRAUD SQUAD PROBE COUNCIL BOSSES; EXCLUSIVE … Whistleblower claims Renfrewshire provost and four councillors filed dodgy expense claims ... including SNP councillor who became Scottish Government finance secretary a decade later

A PROVOST and four councillors are being probed by the Fraud Squad over alleged dodgy expenses claims.

Detectives have submitted a report to prosecutors over cash paid to Renfrewshire leader Ronnie Burns and colleague Celia Lawson. 

And the police are examining expenses claimed by depute leader Tommy Williams, Mark Macmillan and SNP group leader Derek Mackay. 

The investigation was sparked by retired businessman Tom Gatley, 66, who used freedom of information laws to obtain all 40 Renfrewshire councillors' expenses sheets since 2000. 

He studied 7000 documents and claims he found disturbing evidence of over-claiming. 

Gatley says the documents show that: 

Provost Burns claimed for car mileage on consecutive days - although he has access to an official Jaguar. He also claimed expenses for meals when official meals were provided. 

Williams' expenses sheets claim he worked on council duties for at least 11 hours daily - entitling him to a £23.52 allowance a day.

But he also had a full-time job as a Glasgow City Council social worker and duties sitting on health board meetings. 

Mackay filed a duplicate claim - getting the full £23.52 subsistence expenses twice in five days. 

All councillors are entitled to legitimate expenses but police are probing allegations that some made fraudulent claims. 

Gatley said: "It would appear that some councillors defy not only the laws of the land but also the laws of physics by being in two places at one time." 

He has also handed police evidence against Councillor Macmillan, former son-in-law of ex-MP Irene Adams. 

Macmillan is accused of claiming meals while conducting fulltime council duties when he was working for the then MP. 

But last night all the councillors accused Gatley of conducting a long-running witch-hunt. 

In many of Macmillan's sheets, he claims expenses for the same days twice but he said: "I don't know anything about this." 

Councillor Mackay said: "I and my colleague Celia Lawson were reported to the Standards Commission over expenses claims and they found no irregularities."

Williams claimed he had quit his full-time job at Glasgow City Council but couldn't recall when. 

Councillor Lawson said: "This accusation is malicious gossip."

Provost Burns was unavailable for comment. 

The Crown Office said: "Two people are subject of a report which was received from Strathclyde Police in the past week." 

CASE 1 

PROVOST BURNS' expenses sheet shows a string of consecutive claims for £23.52 to pay for four meals a day. 

But critics say the Provost attends several functions a week where food is served. 

The same sheet shows several consecutive claims for mileage expenses to claim for 20 miles travelled every day. 

The Provost has full access to a civic Jaguar. Provost Burns has not been available for comment for family reasons but vehemently denies any wrongdoing. 

CASE 2 

THIS sheet shows a duplicate claim by Councillor Derek Mackay. 

It shows he claimed the full £23.52 subsistence expenses twice in five days in January 2003. 

Councillor Mackay last week denied any wrongdoing.

Report by Russell Findlay first published in the Sunday Mail on October 15, 2006