Leading SNP politician under investigation for professional misconduct
A LEADING SNP politician is under investigation for professional misconduct relating to her previous career as a law firm partner, it has emerged.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, the party's candidate for Ochil and South Perthshire in next month's General Election, is being probed by the Law Society of Scotland.
Opponents are now calling for the prominent politician, who was elected to the seat in May 2015, be suspended from the SNP until the investigation is completed - meaning she would have to stand as an independent or drop out of the race altogether.
Although details of the probe are not clear, it is understood the investigation was launched several weeks ago and relates to the period when Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh was a partner at Glasgow law firm Hamilton Burns WS.
Scottish Conservative Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser said: "These are serious allegations and, four weeks out from an election, the voters of Ochil and South Perthshire need an immediate explanation.
"It would be utterly unacceptable for the SNP to try and brush this under the carpet. For once, they need to be straight with people.
“If an investigation has been launched, then the SNP should do exactly as they did with their former MP Michelle Thomson and suspend Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh immediately."
Scottish Labour's General Election campaign manager James Kelly said: "Any investigation by the Law Society is so serious that, if confirmed, the SNP must immediately suspend Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.
The voters of Ochil and South Perthshire need an immediate explanation
"Nicola Sturgeon must make it clear if she will continue to support Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh as an SNP candidate. In the wake of a series of scandals, it once again raises questions about the party's vetting process.
"The voters in Ochil and South Perthshire need immediate answers. They cannot go to the polls without all the information being made available to them.
"Voters on June 8 have an opportunity to reject Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh at the ballot box and get a Labour MP who will fight a second independence referendum."
Mr Kelly has now written to the First Minister seeking clarification over the investigation and asking whether the party will suspend the politician.
Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh, a former Conservative who defected to the SNP, is a a close ally of former first minister Alex Salmond and sits on the party's national executive committee as women's and equalities officer.
She set up Hamilton Burns WS as a partnership in 2001 and it became a limited company in 2014. One of two directors, she resigned shortly after becoming an MP.
Her register of interests reveals that she continued to receive income from the company shortly after being elected for work carried out prior to her election.
In May 2015, she recived £1,800 for work completed during April that year.
Last December, it emerged she faced court action from HMRC in a sequestration case related to Hamilton Burns WS Limited - but the case was later dismissed.
At the time, the politician insisted she had "no outstanding personal tax liability whatsoever".
Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh was also listed as one of two founding directors of Hamilton Burns WS Estate Agents, which was set up in 2008 and dissolved last October.
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In addition, she was a founding director in Hamilton Burns Commercial Limited, set up in 2010 and still active. She resigned in October 2011.
The investigation comes as yet another blow to Nicola Sturgeon's party, which has been forced to suspend two of its 56 MPs elected in 2015.
Edinburgh West MP Michelle Thomson had the party whip withdrawn after police launched a probe into property dealings.
And Glasgow East MP Natalie McGarry was suspended when police began to investigate claims that £30,000 was missing from the Women for Independence group's accounts. She has been charged.
Both Thomson and McGarry have confirmed they are not standing in next month's elections and the SNP have selected new candidates in their seats.
The Law Society of Scotland said it had no comment to make, while Mrs Ahmed-Sheikh and the SNP have not commented.