St Margaret's rescue bid targeted by fraudsters in online scam

Published on Sunday 20 June 2010 23:28

FRAUDSTERS have tried to sabotage an 11th-hour fundraising campaign aiming to raise £2.5 million within days to rescue a leading private school.

A bogus bank account and e-mail addresses have been set up to try to cash in on parents of pupils at St Margaret's in Edinburgh.

Details were posted on various Facebook sites set up to drum up support for the campaign to save the 110-year-old institution, which went into liquidation earlier this month.

Police have been called in by campaigners who have previously admitted they are banking on "white knight" saviours to halt the closure of the school at the end of this month. Warning notices have been posted on Facebook and the official campaign website and e-mail alerts have also been issued.

Lothian and Borders Police last night confirmed an investigation was under way after concerns had been raised by the campaign group.

It is not known how much money has been donated to the fraudster's account, which was spotted within hours of it being promoted online on Saturday. It was set up using the name "Mark Emlick".

But Val Devlin, spokeswoman for the St Margaret's Parents and Family Association, admitted she had been dismayed to discover the campaign had been targeted in such a way.

The Scotsman told on Saturday how the consortium of parents trying to rescue St Margaret's had shelved plans to launch a shareholder scheme to try to clear 2.5m of debts racked up by the board of the school, put into provisional liquidation on 10 June.

Ms Devlin said: "It's pretty disheartening that anyone would try to do this. It looks like someone trying to be opportunistic, so we've had to work really hard to put the word out there that these messages are bogus."

A spokeswoman for the parents' consortium said: "It has come to our attention that someone has set up a bogus account for the Save St Margaret's Fund."

A spokeswoman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "We have been made aware of concerns by this campaign about the veracity of a bank account and website that has been set up. We are in the early stages of an investigation."

Meanwhile, Ms Devlin admitted progress had been slow in attracting donations for the campaign, which was launched last Sunday after a group of ten families decided to mount a bid to take over the school.

However, plans to allow parents to buy a stake in the school as part of a takeover deal had to be scrapped after legal experts warned the group did not have enough time to put the scheme in place.

Some families face losing up to 30,000 after deciding to pay St Margaret's School, in Edinburgh, in advance for fees.

Parents who paid out hundreds of pounds for deposits on planned school trips overseas are also expected to be left empty-handed after St Margaret's governors called in liquidators KPMG last week.

&#149 Pupils from St Margaret's have picked up a national honour for their school magazine. Viva Vox won the Chairman's Award at the 2010 Scottish School Magazine Awards.