Question reference: S4W-30419
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 8 March 2016
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Current status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 22 March 2016
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Keeper of the Registers of Scotland has made recommendations to the Scottish Government about any legislative change required following the recent cases of fraudulent disposition of title.
Answer
The keeper has robust measures in place to minimise the effects of fraud, and keeps them under review. She has a designated fraud officer responsible for implementing her fraud prevention and mitigation policies, and for delivering regular staff training. Her staff are encouraged to refer suspicious applications to the fraud officer. In order to aid earlier detection, the Keeper meets with other bodies such as the Law Society of Scotland, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Police Scotland and Revenue Scotland. She also maintains communications with other land registries both in the UK and internationally to monitor trends.
The reply to S4W-30417 on 17 March 2016 sets out the process for fraud discovered after registration. If an allegation of fraud is made before an application for registration has been determined then the keeper will apply her policy on holding applications in abeyance as set out in Registers Update 42 (issued in December 2014)
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.