Trump Could Be Investigated In Scotland Next Year

The Scottish government could investigate how Donald Trump acquired two golf courses in Scotland pending a legal challenge in the country’s highest civil court.

Nicola Sturgeon’s government has previously said it does not have the power to use an unexplained wealth order to investigate Trump’s two golf courses in the country, Trump Turnberry and Trump International in Aberdeen.

An unexplained wealth order would allow authorities to question the Trump Organization about where the money he used to buy the golf courses came from.

On Thursday (20 May), however, Avaaz, a human rights group, filed a petition in Scotland’s Court of Session asking for a judicial review of the government’s decision.

In the petition, Avaaz not only argues that the Scottish government has the authority to use an unexplained wealth order, but Scottish ministers have a “duty” to seek one if the threshold for using an unexplained wealth order is surpassed.

“The legal threshold here is about whether there is reasonable suspicion as to the sufficiency of Trump’s lawful income for the purpose of buying Turnberry, and we believe that threshold has clearly been met,” says Nick Flynn, legal director at Avaaz.

Trump brought Turnberry for $60 million in 2014, but neither it nor Trump’s Aberdeen golf course has ever turned a profit, according to accounts filed with the U.K.’s Companies House. This leads to speculation over why Trump purchased and developed the two loss-making businesses.

But, in a 30-page document published in 2019, Avaaz says the purchase of Turnberry was itself suspicious. “Trump acquired Turnberry golf course in April 2014 at the end of an unusual ‘cash buying spree’ of five houses, eight golf courses, and a winery totaling over $400 million,” the document says.

Not only were many of the transactions made in “locations highly conducive to money laundering such as Panama and the former Soviet Union,” but the buying spree took place during a period in which Trump’s businesses suffered “serious financial difficulties and defaults,” says the document.

Avaaz, along with several Scottish MSPs, therefore wants to know where the money came from and thinks an unexplained wealth order is the best way to answer these questions. Unexplained wealth orders were introduced in 2018 so that authorities could question individuals they suspect of having links to illicit money.

“If Trump can’t explain the source of the money, then the Scottish government has the responsibility to take action, and if Trump can explain the source of the money, then that puts the issue to bed. And everybody benefits from the transparency,” says Flynn. 

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Eric Trump has previously dismissed such suspicions of his father and accused Scottish politicians who support unexplained wealth orders of pursuing “personal agendas.”

The legal challenge by Avaaz comes just three months after Scotland’s parliament voted against pursuing an unexplained wealth order.

While the petition does not challenge the vote, it does argue that it was made on a flawed legal interpretation. At the time, Scotland’s justice minister, Humza Yousaf, said unexplained wealth orders could only be brought about by the Civil Recovery Unit and Scotland’s most senior legal figure, the Lord Advocate, not the Scottish government.

“We are not challenging the Scottish parliament,” says Flynn. “We are challenging Scottish ministers’ failure to take collective responsibility for making a decision about the unexplained wealth order.”

The Court of Session will now review Avaaz’s petition, and, if it believes there is a stateable case, make a ruling in six to eight months depending on the timetable of the court.

If the court then decides that the Scottish government has the authority and duty to use an unexplained wealth order, ministers will be asked whether they have reasonable grounds for suspicion about Trump’s lawful income.