Former SNP MP Natalie McGarry will face trial for embezzlement next month

Ex-MP Natalie McGarry did not appear for a short hearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Friday where Sheriff Tom Hughes said her trial would begin on April 4.
The 40-year-old has already pleaded not guilty to the charges she faces.
McGarry is accused of misappropriating £21,000 for her own use in her role as treasurer of the group Women for Independence between April 26, 2013 and November 30, 2015.
She is accused of failing to transfer charitable donations collected by the group to Perth and Kinross Foodbank and Positive Prisons, Positive Futures.
It is alleged that she transferred funds raised at events on behalf of Women for Independence to her own personal bank account and used checks drawn on the organization’s bank account to deposit money on her own. accounts.
McGarry is also accused of misappropriating £4,661.02 for her own use from the Glasgow Regional Association of the SNP between April 9, 2014 and August 10, 2015.
It is alleged that in the course of her duties as treasurer, secretary and facilitator of the association, she used checks drawn on bank accounts held in her name to pay for expenses she did not incur and withheld refunds to which she was not entitled.
The indictment also alleges that she used checks drawn on bank accounts held in the association’s name to deposit and transfer money to her own personal bank accounts.
McGarry was elected as an SNP member in 2015 but resigned as party whip amid fraud allegations.
She did not seek re-election in 2017.