The Scottish government is facing a legal challenge by a human rights group requesting a judicial review of Parliament’s refusal to investigate former President Donald Trump‘s all-cash purchases of two golf courses.
Avaaz, an international nonprofit organization focused on issues such as human rights and climate change, filed a petition on Monday in Scotland’s highest civil court in hopes of reviving an effort in forcing Trump to disclose how he financed two courses he bought in 2005 and 2014, according to Reuters.
“If Trump can’t explain the source of the money, then the Scottish government has the responsibility to take action,” said Nick Flynn, legal director at Avaaz.
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The petition zeroes in on Trump’s purchases of two Scottish courses, in which he spent more than $300 million in cash to purchase and develop them, though neither has reportedly turned a profit.
In 2006, the former president bought 1,000 acres in Aberdeenshire for over $10 million and spent $60 million building a golf course, a small hotel, and several holiday cottages, according to company filings with the United Kingdom‘s corporate registry.
He bought the Turnberry golf course in 2014 for $60 million. Turnberry is a luxurious seaside course that has hosted Europe’s sole golf major, the Open, four times.
Trump also purchased five other golf properties outside Scotland using only cash.
In February, the Scottish Parliament voted 89 to 32 against the motion to pursue an “unexplained wealth order” into Trump’s business deals. Opponents said the matter should be left in the hands of law enforcement rather than a political body, according to the Washington Post.
That same month, Eric Trump, the former president’s son and a director of the Scottish golf courses, accused Scottish politicians who supported the unexplained wealth order of “advancing their personal agendas,” adding that the Trump Organization “made an overwhelming contribution to the leisure and tourism industry.”
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The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
