The bid for the Scottish Parliament to investigate how Donald Trump paid for Scottish golf courses failed

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Lawyers acting for AVAAZ told judge Lord Sandison last month that Scottish ministers were wrong not to order an unexplained wealth order (UWO) investigation against the former US president.

The group wants the Scottish Government to have a so -called McMafia probe into how Mr Trump got the funding for the Menie golf course in Aberdeenshire and the Turnberry resort in Ayrshire.

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‘Reasonable questions’ about funding Donald Trump’s Scottish resorts, court … Donald Trump speaks outside his Turnberry resort in Scotland. Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty

Advocate Aidan O’Neill QC told the Court of Session that the ministers did not understand the terms of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

The court heard that the Scottish Government’s current approach to UWOs allows the Lord Advocate to have a role in deciding whether such probes should be launched.

Lord Sandison was told that the law did not allow the Lord Advocate to have such a prominent role.

However, Lord Sandison saw that the evidence showed that Scottish ministers acted lawfully and in accordance with the law.

In a written judgment released Thursday, Lord Sandison denied the arguments made by the New York -based group.

In conclusion that the arguments about the prominent role of the Lord Advocate in unexplained wealth orders were wrong, Lord Sandison wrote: “I do not think it is possible to distinguish from section 396D any implicit intention of the Parliamentary that the Lord Advocate may not hold portfolio responsibility as concerned with the Scottish minister.in applying for a UWO, whether in relation to a person politically exposed or otherwise.

“What the section simply says in essence is that when an Unexplained Wealth Order has been issued and appears to have been complied with, Scottish ministers will decide whether to give the Lord Advocate the opportunity to advance the case under the functions of the Proceeds of Crime Act, which is specifically allocated to him under that Act or if it is promoted under the provisions of the POCA allocated to them generally under that Act, or in fact will not take any form of action. ”

The Scottish Green Party first called for an unexplained wealth order amid questions about how Mr Trump was able to finance the purchases of courses at Turnberry in 2014 and at Menie in Aberdeenshire, in 2006.

The UK Government has introduced orders to assist in investigations into money laundering and other criminal financial activity.

Patrick Harvie, the co-leader of the Greens, said Mr Trump’s unusual spending pattern and the ongoing civil and criminal cases in the US provided grounds for Scottish authorities to investigate the businessman.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament that responsibility for the investigation rested with the Civil Recovery Unit of the Crown Office, which is politically independent from the government.

The then secretary of justice Humza Yousaf later announced that Ms Sturgeon had erred – and the law allowed the Scottish Government to launch an unexplained investigation into the wealth order.

This prompted AVAAZ to instruct the lawyers to go to the Court of Session.

In October, Mr O’Neill said that by looking at the law, the court would find it was Scottish ministers and not Scotland’s highest prosecutor, the Lord Advocate, responsible for ordering an unexplained investigation into the order of wealth.

The Scottish Government opposed the action. Its legal team told the court it acted in accordance with the law in the matter.

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