CalMac chief forced to pay back £13,000

Published on Saturday 10 October 2009 19:58

A SENIOR official at state ferry giant CalMac has been forced to repay nearly £13,000 of taxpayers' cash after a probe into irregular expenses, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.

Alan Moffat, the group's human resources director, returned the money last month after being issued with a final warning over "inappropriate" spending, including nearly 5,000 on takeaway meals, more than 1,200 spent in off-licences and a 17 fee for an application made to university clearing system UCAS.

The 54-year-old, however, has not left his senior position at the company, which is wholly owned by the Scottish Government. CalMac's parent company, David MacBrayne, is understood to have accepted his explanation for thousands of pounds of other expenses clocked up over the last three years, including in the last financial year alone more than 1,750 for five-star hotels, 48.50 for a bunch of 19 red roses sent to his home and 137 for a crystal figurine from jewellery firm Swarovski.

Internal papers obtained by Scotland on Sunday show that earlier this year senior colleagues became concerned by some of Moffat's spending, both through out-of-pocket expense claims and via his corporate Mastercard.

They asked forensic accountancy firm KPMG to run a fine-toothed comb through the claims made by Moffat and five other directors. Moffat is the managing director of the group's human resources subsidiary, David MacBrayne HR.

The investigators gave all the managers a clean bill of health apart from Moffat. They discovered what they called "irregularities" in Moffat's expenses, according to a report they prepared for his bosses.

"Receipts were missing, had been altered or had no bearing in relation to the description or date provided on the expense claims," they said.

Accountants highlighted claims for costs incurred in supermarkets, including Tesco, and takeaways they described as being "within close proximity" of Moffat's home in the leafy Glasgow suburb of Bearsden.

Claims, they said, were made for weekdays, but receipts were dated for weekends or evenings, with some in the name of Moffat's wife Jillian, a senior executive at jobs quango Scottish Enterprise and the official in charge of ensuring a business legacy for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Expenses were paid for visits to, among others, McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, Dobbie's Garden Centre and the Ashoka Indian restaurant in Bearsden.

Accountants also cited "frequent reimbursement for costs relating to Victoria Wine where the date and time on the receipt is a Friday evening or a weekend". They also reported that Moffat had claimed for both petrol and diesel fuel, even though his company car only takes the latter.

Moffat was ordered to pay back a total of 12,899.64 following a disciplinary hearing sparked by the KPMG investigation. Papers from the accountancy firm reveal that by 10 September Moffat had repaid bills of 1,426 from convenience stores, 1,266 from off-licences, 4,968 from takeaways and 5,062 from service stations, as well as a 50 fee from the DVLA, a 30 parking fine, a 20 charitable donation, a 39 invoice for home internet, a 10 taxi fare and the UCAS payment.

Separate internal expense claims forms obtained by Scotland on Sunday from CalMac show that Moffat claimed for three stays at five-star hotels in the 2008-2009 financial year.

They include one bill of 933 for the London Hilton made out in the name of his wife, a second for 341 for a room at the London Malmaison and a third of 459 for a stay for two at the award-winning Kilmichael Country House Hotel on Arran, one of the islands served by CalMac's ferry network. It is understood he has not been asked to repay these claims.

A spokesman for David MacBrayne said: "An audit of Mr Moffat's expenses identified a number of items which we considered merited closer examination.

"Mr Moffat gave a full account of these but agreed on reflection that some were inappropriate and agreed to repay in full the relevant amounts. This has now been done and as far as the company is concerned the matter is now closed. Mr Moffat is a valued member of staff and we are entirely satisfied that there was no intention to defraud."

Moffat was not at his substantial double-garaged detached home in Bearsden yesterday. Only one of the family's cars, a black Mercedes with private number plates, was in the drive. He declined requests to comment made through his company.

KPMG, meanwhile, in their draft report on the incident, said the Moffat case highlighted weaknesses with the way in which directors at David MacBrayne HR UK checked and authorised each other's expenses.

The accountancy firm said: "The irregularities identified with the expense claims for one of the directors suggest that those particular expense claims have not been subject to an adequate level of scrutiny."

The company has now revised its procedures.