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A former Scottish Women’s Premier League director who carried out a near £30,000 scam to live rent free in an Edinburgh city centre flat has been jailed.

Zola McGoldrick rented out the plush three bedroom flat from an elderly landlord but failed to pay the monthly £1500 rental fee to him for over 18 months.

McGoldrick, 50, took advantage of Roderick Glen by claiming her bank accounts had been frozen after she had been caught up in an international money laundering scheme. The shamed football boss even forged several letters, claiming they were from the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank and HMRC, in her bid to keep her devious scam going.

Zola McGoldrick was sentenced to six months in prison after being found guilty of an elaborate fraud.

McGoldrick, also known as Zola Affley, conned Mr Glen out of a total of £28,438.75 by failing to pay him any rental cash between September 2018 and May 2020. The mother-of-two denied any wrongdoing but she was found guilty of the elaborate fraud following a two-day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in October.

McGoldrick was appointed as a director of the inaugural SWPL representing Edinburgh outfit Boroughmuir Thistle FC at a historic meeting at Hampden Park in May last year. She was then presented with the prestigious SFA Regional Volunteer of the Year for Adult Football award just three months later.

But she was subsequently forced to resign from her position as a director with the SWPL following the guilty verdict.

McGoldrick, currently of Leith, Edinburgh, was back in the dock at the Capital court on Tuesday, December 12, where Sheriff Roderick Flinn noted the social work report stated she blamed her husband for forging the bank letters.

The sheriff said: “You were found guilty after trial of fraud and the charge stated a lengthy course of fraudulent conduct whereby you gave excuses not to pay your rent supported by documents forged by you. Your behaviour was deliberate and when your story started to unravel you failed to admit your guilt and your behaviour had elements of confidence trickery in it.

“I cannot have confidence in the content of the report and I am unable to follow its recommendation. The reality is that the only appropriate sentence for a fraud of this nature is a custodial sentence.”

McGoldrick was given a six month prison sentence.

Defence agent Michael Ellis said his client was a student at Edinburgh University and told the court “it is clear Mrs McGoldrick feels apologetic about the impact on her previous landlords”.

Previously, landlord Mr Glen, 74, told the trial he and his wife owned the ground floor flat at the Capital’s Marchmont area and rented the property to McGoldrick and her children in September 2018.

Mr Glen said he had agreed a monthly rent of £1500 and allowed the Australian national to move in before any deposit was paid into his bank account. He said when the promised deposit failed to arrive McGoldrick had given him “a complicated explanation” claiming she had become the victim of an international money laundering scam.

The landlord said McGoldrick had provided him with copies of letters from RBS, Lloyds and HMRC confirming the problems that were preventing her from accessing her bank accounts. The pensioner told the court: “It was unlike anything I had ever heard but I believed it. I was shocked and surprised but had no reason to believe it was not real.”

Mr Glen said he allowed McGoldrick and her family to live in the flat as he “felt sorry for her” and in the hope he would eventually receive the rent payments.

Following the guilty verdict, a spokesperson for the SWPL said: “This has come as a complete shock to everyone at the league. We were completely unaware of this situation until today. Zola has tendered her resignation from her non-executive position at the SWPL and it has been accepted by the board with immediate effect.”

Edinburgh crime: Woman football boss Zola McGoldrick jailed over £30,000 scam to live rent-free in city flat