A seven-year probe into Ambulance Scotland concludes after allegations of financial irregularities surfaced.
The company lost contracts after some arrests. Police suspected money laundering and tax issues in 2018. HMRC raided their Renfrewshire headquarters before. HMRC investigates its own criminal cases. They arrested two folks back then.
Now, a report went to the fiscal. The report covers alleged crimes. Four people are involved over nine years. The fiscal is checking the report closely. Two men and two women are named.
The alleged crimes happened from 2009 to 2018. The case is still active and under review now. Ambulance Scotland did private emergency work. They covered events like Beyonce’s concert. They also worked the TRNSMT festival.
They even provided ambulances to the NHS. The company got Hydro contracts soon after starting. This happened just four years after starting up. Forty medical workers got replaced at that time. Some folks worried about safety.
They said the company used unqualified staff. Someone made fake job ads about it. The director said it was a smear campaign. The ads called the firm “Shambulance Scotland.” A former paramedic worked there as a first aider.
She lost her license before for a death. The director defended hiring her anyway. The Hydro trusted the company then. The HMRC raid happened a year later on them.
In 2019, they sold their assets to Amvale. Amvale Medical Transport Limited is an English firm. Amvale took on the staff and equipment. They continued the business as Amvale.
They took over the Hydro, Hampden, and TRNSMT contracts. Amvale called itself Scotland’s largest event medical provider. Ambulance Scotland closed in June 2023. They last filed accounts in 2018 already.
HMRC officers did six warrants in Renfrewshire in 2018. A man and woman, both 47, got arrested then. They were suspected of tax and money crimes. HMRC sent a report to the fiscal about it.