A company director has been jailed over a massive fraud scheme involving police escorts.

James Campbell altered paperwork for services provided to his firm, Cumbernauld-based West of Scotland Heavy Haulage Limited, by police in Scotland and Wales.

He also overcharged Spanish firm Siemens Gamesa by £110,000 for transporting wind turbine parts. 

The 51-year-old, from Bearsden, was sentenced to 16 months in prison after pleading guilty at Airdrie Sheriff Court to fraud. 

The court heard how Campbell falsified and inflated invoices from the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and South Wales Police (SWP) over the price of police escorts to gain additional funds from Siemens.

West of Scotland Heavy Haulage Limited specialises in transporting heavy loads and they entered into a contract with Siemens to ferry wind farm components to three sites in Scotland and one in Wales. 

Due to the abnormal size of the loads, they required a police escort to ensure safe transportation across roads and through towns.  

The SPA and SWP invoiced the company for the escorts and they then incorporated that charge into their costs before forwarding the overall bill to Siemens.

The contract stipulated that police escorts would be charged by West of Scotland Heavy Haulage Limited at cost price.  

However, evidence uncovered by officers at Police Scotland’s Economic Crime Unit revealed that between January and August 2017, Campbell manipulated the invoices to make the price of the police escorts appear higher. 

There were also instances when no police escorts accompanied vehicles carrying the windfarm components, but the accused still charged Siemens for the costs.  

Concerns over the legitimacy of the invoices were first raised by a Siemens employee in June 2017. 

The matter was passed to Police Scotland who raided Campbell’s business address and seized his electronic devices. 

Fraudulently inflated SPA invoices were recovered as were text messages which showed the accused communicating with a colleague about altering the invoices.

The court heard that the total amount fraudulently obtained from the Spanish firm in respect of all four wind farms was £110,000. 

Les Brown, procurator fiscal for South Strathclyde, said: “Fraud is not a victimless crime. This was a brazen example of an individual inflicting serious financial harm on an overseas company and its employees.  

“James Campbell was involved in a fraudulent enterprise concerning a significant sum of money. We take such criminality very seriously and will not stop at prosecution and have commenced proceedings to recover the benefit he gained from his criminal activities. 

“This case demonstrated the ability of prosecutors and justice partners to effectively prepare and prosecute a crime of this nature and should send a strong message to others involved in this kind of criminal behaviour.” 

Campbell will now also be the subject of confiscation action under Proceeds of Crime legislation to recover monies fraudulently obtained.