National Library calls fraud squad as IT gear vanishes

THE fraud squad has been called in after tens of thousands of pounds worth of computer equipment vanished from the National Library of Scotland.

Bosses at the library on George IV Bridge contacted police after an internal investigation alerted them to the missing goods, the Evening News can reveal.

A member of staff at the library has resigned as a result of the probe.

The National Library has said the missing equipment is worth less than the 200,000 claimed by one insider who spoke to the Evening News.

Police sources said that the inquiry had reached a "sensitive stage".

The National Library is visited by 120,000 people a year and attracts about three million web hits. It is home to some of Scotland's greatest cultural treasures,

A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police confirmed that a probe of the incident had been launched.

"An investigation is underway following a report of embezzlement involving a former member of staff at the National Library of Scotland," he said. "Officers from the Specialist Fraud Unit at Lothian and Borders Police are carrying out inquiries."

National Library bosses also admitted that a probe was ongoing. "Following an internal investigation, I can confirm that police are investigating a potential case of fraud at NLS and that a member of staff has resigned," said a Library spokesperson.

The National Library of Scotland contains about seven million books, 14 million printed items and more than two million maps. Some of the highlights of the collection are copies of the Gutenberg Bible, a letter which Charles Darwin submitted with the manuscript of Origin of Species and the First Folio of Shakespeare.