TAXPAYERS have been left with a bill of more than £13 million after Scottish Enterprise was forced to write off record levels of bad investments last year.
New accounts from the quango revealed a loss of £13,103,000 of public money in failed share deals, loans and grants, an increase of almost 40 per cent on the previous year.
The average write-off was £175,000 last year, compared to £157,700 the previous year and £51,000 from 2006 to 2012.
The bill for "claims abandoned or abandoned" in 2013-14 was equivalent to more than five per cent of Scottish Enterprise's entire £250m budget.
Tory enterprise spokesman Murdo Fraser said: "There is always a risk attached to investments made by agencies such as Scottish Enterprise in the private sector. Nevertheless, the increase in losses for the latest year does raise concerns about the investment criteria being applied.
"These are substantial sums of public money that are having to be written off. I'm sure members of the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee [at the Scottish Parliament] will want to question Scottish Enterprise about this issue when they appear before our committee in a few weeks."
Losses last year included £2m worth of shares in computer company Enigmatec Corporation Limited, and £1.15m of shares in Vale of Leven-based PWB Health Ltd, which in 2007 was named "most promising new life science company" in Scotland at a Scottish Enterprise awards ceremony.
The most high-profile write-off was £1m invested in social networking website Talent Nation plc. Launched in 2009 by former Scottish Sun editor Steve Sampson, it attracted a range of private investors, including Celtic midfielder Scott Brown and ex-Rangers striker Kenny Miller.
However, in 2011, Scottish Enterprise took the unprecedented step of going to court in order to put the company into liquidation, amid concern over its operations and a separate legal dispute between Talent Nation and Olympic athlete Brian Whittle over unpaid fees.
Legal papers showed Scottish Enterprise had accused Mr Sampson, now 62, of moving more than £500,000 into a personal bank account held in his name and that of his wife Elizabeth.
Mr Sampson strongly denied the money had been Scottish Enterprise's. He insisted the sum was reinvested back into the venture and said any suggestion otherwise was "wide of the mark".
Iain Scott, chief financial officer of Scottish Enterprise, said: "We invest in companies capable of having a significant impact on the Scottish economy but this inevitably means a higher element of risk in what we do.
"In the past year we've seen a number of successful exits from our equity investments, generating almost £17m profit for the taxpayer which is reinvested in the Scottish economy.
"I welcome any opportunity to discuss our investment approach with the committee in a few weeks' time. Our approach is recognised as market leading, identified by the EU as good practice and has become known as the 'Scotland model' - and is being replicated worldwide in the US to China and from New Zealand to Latvia."
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