Trader to be sentenced over £630k farm machinery fraud

A Scottish businessman who defrauded multiple agricultural firms out of £630,000 is due to be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on 14 August 2025.

Barry Mackland, 50, from Aberdeen, was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh of four counts of theft and fraud following a year-long spree in 2022, targeting machinery dealers across Scotland and beyond.

The court heard Mackland stole two tractors worth £83,100 from Barctrac Ltd in Forfar and sold them to a third party.

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He also used fraudulent cheques to obtain machinery worth more than £500,000 from three other firms: Gammies Groundcare in Forfar, DM Forklifts in Stonehaven, and RC Setchfield in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

In each case, Mackland falsely claimed that the cheques would be honoured, despite having insufficient funds in his business account.

The scam allowed him to obtain high-value equipment, which he later sold on.

Initially, prosecutors accused Mackland of defrauding businesses out of £1.7m, but the jury acquitted him of some charges, returning convictions on four key offences.

A proceeds of crime hearing to recover the stolen funds is expected later this year.

Meanwhile, sentencing was deferred to allow the court to assess Mackland’s background.

The case follows a lengthy police investigation that uncovered extensive evidence of Mackland’s fraudulent transactions across multiple locations.

The court was told the deception undermined trust between rural businesses and customers.

Lawyers acting on behalf of Mackland argued that he had not committed any fraud, but was simply unable to repay his business debts.

Mackland, who denied any wrongdoing, remains on bail.