FRAUD accused Paul Galbraith lavished luxury treats and a jet-set lifestyle on himself with the £500,000 pounds he allegedly stole from a US oil company, a court heard yesterday.

Galbraith, 50 — who is said to have bought a £240,000 house outright — splashed out on Louis Vuitton and Hugo Boss gear, as well as Swiss watches and trips to Cancun and Dubai, a jury was told.

The Greenock man's trial also heard that he paid for a £20,000 extension to his sister's home and 'spoiled his kids rotten' with the £513,200 it is claimed he helped himself to from the Texas-based firm.

Galbraith's co-accused 72-year-old mother, Dora — into whose building society account the money was paid — was yesterday acquitted after prosecutor David McDonald accepted that she knew nothing about her son's alleged fraud.

In a video recording of her police interview, which was played in court, Mrs Galbraith repeatedly gasped, 'Oh my goodness' when informed by detectives of the amount of cash which had been funnelled into the Nationwide account.

She said that she was 'gobsmacked', and when asked about Galbraith's lifestyle she stated: "It always had to be the best of gear.

"With my other son, you could go to Primark and buy him a shirt and he'd be over the moon.

"With Paul, you'd have to go to Topman."

The trial heard how Galbraith, who now lives at Bailey Grove, Inverkip, spent £3,610 in a Louis Vuitton store in Cancun, Mexico, and carried out eight transactions totalling more than £10,000 at a Hugo Boss shop.

He is said to have paid £4,695 to Watches of Switzerland and spent £1,833 at the 29 Private Members Club in Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow.

Meanwhile, prosecutors say he spent more the £1,000 with the Emirates airline, made a £2,482 payment to Thomas Cook and splashed out £3,073 in a single day at the five-star Atlantis, The Palm hotel in Dubai.

Pensioner Mrs Galbraith, of Stafford Road in Greenock, told police that her son had suffered financial difficulties and didn't have a back account at the time of the alleged fraud.

He was working as a project manager overseeing the construction of a multi-million-pound new premises in Whitburn, West Lothian, for the UK arm of Oil States Industries when it is claimed he submitted four fake invoices from a fictitious company in order to get the money.

His mum said that his wages and bonuses were paid into her account and that she rarely looked at statements.

She told the police: "No wonder he didn't open the statements in the house.

"I'd probably have questioned it if I saw that amount of money, because you don't get that amount of money as a bonus."

Mrs Galbraith said she was 'sick to the stomach' after being confronted with her son's alleged criminality.

She added: "I'm shocked by this — I trusted him.

"I don't know if I could've halted what was going on.

"I would never have signed cheques or anything if I knew for one second.

"I never thought my son would do anything like this.

"I thought I was doing this [letting him use the account] to get him on his feet."

It is alleged that Galbraith, who has three adult children, pretended that payments were due for industrial materials for a fake firm between December 1, 2013 and January 20, 2015, that he acquired criminal property in the form of the allegedly stolen money and then converted it by buying the Inverkip house.

He denies the allegations.

His mother is due to give evidence today as the trial at Paisley Sheriff Court continues.