THE SNP has suspended a councillor following a probe into irregularities surrounding his personal records.
Shabbar Jaffri, a councillor in Glasgow since 2012, has been removed by the party after officers at the local authority uncovered inconsistencies in information he has provided. The dossier of evidence has now been handed to police.
The SNP said the group’s 53-year-old former development spokesman had been placed on “administrative suspension”.
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Mr Jaffri has said he was unaware of the nature of the details provided to the police by the city council’s internal auditors but confirmed he had been suspended.
The move however threatens to bring down Mr Jaffri’s political career, with selection and vetting of candidates in Glasgow taking place in the weeks ahead.
A Glasgow SNP group spokesman said: “Cllr Jaffri was placed on administrative suspension as soon as the SNP was notified and this will remain the case until the outcome of the investigation is known. Given the ongoing investigation, it would be inappropriate for us to make any further comment.”
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It is also understood during the background checks issues emerged around council tax, which then led to further suspected irregularities being uncovered and a subsequent investigation by the council’s internal audit which ran for several months.
Although no specific allegations were made by the council, the findings of its investigation were handed over to Police Scotland several weeks ago.
Several council sources have said all issues around council tax are dealt with internally.
Mr Jaffri said: “Like the group, I was only notified this had been passed to police some days ago. The decision to suspend me is not untoward. It’s a normal decision. The news has come as a surprise and shock to me and I’m trying to ascertain what has been referred to the police.
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“I can’t think of any inconsistencies in the information I provided and I look forward to contact from the police. I am very curious about this and what any investigation might be about.”
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