Stagecoach co-founder Dame Ann Gloag charged with human trafficking offences

General Chat Chat / Discussions
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#1

BBC Scotland has been told that the 80-year-old co-founder of Stagecoach was charged after voluntarily attending Falkirk police station for an interview on Thursday.

A statement issued on behalf of Dame Ann said that she could not comment on the details of an ongoing investigation. But it added: “Dame Ann Gloag strongly disputes the malicious allegations that have been made against her, her foundation and members of her family.” It went on to say she would “vigorously defend herself and the work of her foundation to protect her legacy and continue her work helping thousands of people in the UK and abroad every year.”

Police Scotland confirmed that four people were charged in connection with an investigation into alleged human trafficking and immigration offences. A spokesperson said a report would be sent to Scottish prosecutors.

Dame Ann retired from Stagecoach in 2019, almost 40 years after she founded the firm with her brother. At the time she was Scotland’s richest woman. The Perth-based firm grew out of Margaret Thatcher’s deregulation of the bus industry in the 1980s. It became one of the UK’s biggest bus and coach operators, employing more than 24,000 people.

Dame Ann is now a philanthropist with charity interests around the world. She set up the Gloag Foundation to support projects that “prevent or relieve poverty and encourage the advancement of education, health and religion in the UK and overseas”. The foundation supports charities including Freedom from Fistula, a charity founded by Dame Ann, which supports women and children in Sierra Leone, Malawi and Madagascar.

On the face of it, this seems such an unlikely situation … :017:

No doubt more will be revealed in the coming days … :thinking:

Over 50's Club Scotland
#10

Lots of folk have been forgotten, even though the folks on the telly say they are in their thoughts, cest la life.

#12

80 year Ann Gloag is a Scottish philanthropist who supports numerous charity worldworld .
She is the fourth richest woman in the U.K. and is completely self made her bus company Stagecoach was set up by herself and her brother .
Now she has been charged by the police for offences of human trafficking .
It beggars belief a woman who has done so much good .
It’s sound to me like someone is out to get money ,someone she has helped .e

1 Like
#14

Well you can all jump on me if you like but I don’t believe for one one minute she did this or anything like it. I know both Ann and her brother Brian. They worked with my dad and my husband when it was Alexander’s Bus Company.
Yes I was hacked off when they started Stagecoach as were all of Alexander’s drivers, they felt bitterly betrayed by the move and they were sent to Coventry for years, some of the older drivers who are still alive have not forgiven them and never will.
But people trafficking…No, No Way.
This is either a set up, or a massive mistake somewhere along the line.

3 Likes
#18

Continuing the discussion from Nefarious - Definition:

Thank you for bringing the original thread back to its intent after it was hijacked … :+1:

I’ve started this one and linked back … :slightly_smiling_face:

BBC Scotland has been told that the 80-year-old co-founder of Stagecoach was charged after voluntarily attending Falkirk police station for an interview on Thursday.

A statement issued on behalf of Dame Ann said that she could not comment on the details of an ongoing investigation. But it added: “Dame Ann Gloag strongly disputes the malicious allegations that have been made against her, her foundation and members of her family.” It went on to say she would “vigorously defend herself and the work of her foundation to protect her legacy and continue her work helping thousands of people in the UK and abroad every year.”

Police Scotland confirmed that four people were charged in connection with an investigation into alleged human trafficking and immigration offences. A spokesperson said a report would be sent to Scottish prosecutors.

Dame Ann retired from Stagecoach in 2019, almost 40 years after she founded the firm with her brother. At the time she was Scotland’s richest woman. The Perth-based firm grew out of Margaret Thatcher’s deregulation of the bus industry in the 1980s. It became one of the UK’s biggest bus and coach operators, employing more than 24,000 people.

Dame Ann is now a philanthropist with charity interests around the world. She set up the Gloag Foundation to support projects that “prevent or relieve poverty and encourage the advancement of education, health and religion in the UK and overseas”. The foundation supports charities including Freedom from Fistula, a charity founded by Dame Ann, which supports women and children in Sierra Leone, Malawi and Madagascar.

On the face of it, this seems such an unlikely situation … :017:

No doubt more will be revealed in the coming days … :thinking:

#19

Dame Ann Gloag: Accusers ‘stayed at tycoon’s Kinfauns Castle’

A source close to the family said those who made the allegations, believed to be a total six individuals, came to Scotland from a number of African countries through her charity, The Gloag Foundation, with a number staying at Kinfauns Castle near Perth and others located in the surrounding area.

The source said: “They come from a group of people who Ann has helped. We are all bewildered by what has happened. It is ironic to some degree that Ann has been directly involved in charitable work that helps victims of human trafficking. She knows only too well the issues. Ann is an incredibly stoic human being and a lesser human would have been crushed by this . It is a testament to her determination in life that she wants to get this sorted and to carry on. The whole aspect of the maliciousness of this has been an utter bombshell.”

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A “human trafficking” base of operations … it would seem unlikely … :open_mouth:

1 Like
#20

It’s a lovely old castle, off the Dundee Rd at Kinfauns, about ten minutes in the car from my house. One of my sisters lives in the old School House at Kinfauns and looks down and over the castle and the grounds. Ann has done wonders with the place, it was such a mess when she bought it. I see it through the trees when I walk Dageus in Kinoull Hill woods most days, as I tend to do when down in Perth.

1 Like
#21

Dont know the Woman but it does seem unlikely.