Book giant HarperCollins’ rates link to controversial Scots charity Scotia Aid revealed

SCANDAL-HIT charity Scotia Aid “saved” a multi-national book giant hundreds of thousands of pounds in rates payments to a Scottish council, it emerged today.

HarperCollins avoided paying up to £1.5m thanks to a loophole in the law that allowed firms to save money on business rates if their buildings were used for “charitable purposes”.

However, the Sunday Post can today reveal that, when the company leased its Bishopbriggs site to Scotia Aid to store supplies for Africa, the organisation was not registered as a charity.

In fact, Scotia Aid – which received a £115,000 donation from HarperCollins around the same time – had “borrowed” the charity number of another body.

Last night, watchdog OSCR said inquiries into the charity’s activities were continuing.

A spokeswoman for HarperCollins confirmed it had previously had a “relationship” with Scotia Aid but that it had “now ceased”.

Jamie Robertson, chief finance officer of East Dunbartonshire Council, the authority responsible for the HarperCollins site, said: “We do not comment on individual cases but all allegations of this nature are thoroughly investigated.”

The Sunday Post previously exposed Scotia Aid for paying its trustees huge salaries while donating just 13p in the pound to good causes.

We also revealed how it was being investigated across the country for leasing other buildings – saving their owners a fortune – while failing to actually place any aid in any of the buildings involved.

Coatbridge-based Lanarkshire Global Education Centre – run by missionaries – allowed Scotia Aid to use its official charity number.

That allowed Scotia Aid to claim rates relief on buildings it said were being used as part of its mercy work – among them the large property which belonged to HarperCollins.

Between 2010 and 2015, Scotia Aid applied for business rates relief on the book giant’s former Bishopbriggs home using Lanarkshire Global Education Centre’s details.

Scotia Aid wasn’t able to put in its own application because in 2010 it wasn’t a registered charity.

Official accounts show HarperCollins, meanwhile, made three five-figure donations to the charity over a three-year period, netting Scotia Aid nearly £116,000.

OSCR is examining the charity over financial “misconduct” and has raised concerns over cash payments made to senior staff.

Its trustees Kieran Kelly, 34, and Alan Johnston, 59, have been banned from running a charity for life, while chairman Dan Houston, 63, quit before investigators acted.

Scotia Aid – declared bankrupt with debts of £1m – earned fortunes exploiting the business rates loophole.

The charity sub-let premises from businesses to claim an 80-100% exemption from rates which applied to buildings used for “charitable activities”.

The move saved landlords a fortune in rates.

Scotia Aid would tell councils they were using the warehouses to store supplies for people in war-torn Sierra Leone, but in many cases the warehouses allegedly stood empty while they raised close to £1m of donations a year from landlords.

Former boss Dan Houston was a pupil at a Coatbridge school run by missionaries. The connection made him aware of Lanarkshire Global Education Centre, also known as the Conforti Institute, which listed Supreme Court judge Lady Rita Rae as one of its 13 directors.

According to charity sources, he convinced the body to let Scotia Aid “borrow” its details.

A spokesman for OSCR said: “If a charity number is being misused, it may be determined as misconduct by the trustees.

“However, any sanctions would be imposed based on the individual circumstances of a particular case.

“Our complex inquiry into Scotia Aid remains active.

“That inquiry has made us aware of issues beyond the charity itself, and we are actively following these up.”

Father Tom Welsh, of the Conforti Institute, said it had “never at any time been in ‘partnership’ with Scotia Aid”.

He said: “After having taken professional advice and only for the benefit of our charitable purposes in Sierra Leone, we allowed use of our charity number but we must stress that it was only for a very short and limited period.

“Scotia Aid had no permission to use the charity number in the manner and to the extent that has now become apparent.

“We would emphasize we have been in communication with OSCR in relation to these matters.”

Kieran Kelly previously said Scotia Aid used the HarperCollins site to store school furniture to send to Africa after Father Welsh “kindly” agreed to let them use the charity number in the application process.

Last week, a source close to Lady Rae said she was unaware of Scotia Aid.