Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell charged
in finance investigation
Husband of Nicola Sturgeon was rearrested ‘in
connection with the embezzlement of funds’ from party, say police
Severin
Carrell Scotland editor
Thu 18 Apr
2024 20.22 BST
Peter
Murrell, the husband of the former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, has been
charged in connection with embezzlement after being arrested for a second time
by police investigating allegations regarding the funding and finances of the
Scottish National party.
Murrell,
the former chief executive of the SNP, was first arrested and interviewed as a
suspect by Police Scotland detectives in April 2023 at the home he shared with
Sturgeon in Glasgow, but was released later that day pending further
investigation.
Police
Scotland revealed earlier on Thursday that Murrell had been rearrested earlier
that morning and questioned. In a brief statement on Thursday the force said he
“had been charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the
Scottish National party”.
The force
added that Murrell had been released from custody and a report would be sent to
the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service “in due course”.
Murrell is
reported to have resigned his membership of the SNP.
Police
Scotland said: “A 59-year-old man has today, Thursday 18 April 2024, been
charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the Scottish National
party.
“The man,
who was arrested at 9.13am today and had previously been arrested as a suspect
on 5 April 2023, was charged at 6.35pm after further questioning by Police
Scotland detectives investigating the funding and finances of the party.
“The man is
no longer in police custody. As this investigation is ongoing we are unable to
comment further.
“The matter
is active for the purposes of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and the public are
therefore advised to exercise caution if discussing it on social media. For
this reason, Police Scotland has turned off the comments function on this
post.”
An SNP
spokesperson said: “While this development will come as a shock, the police
investigation remains ongoing and it would, therefore, be inappropriate to make
any comment.”
After
Murrell’s initial arrest in 2023, the police erected tents at the front of
their detached house, searching the garden and removing evidence from the
property.
In a series
of linked operations, detectives also searched the party’s headquarters in
Edinburgh and confiscated a luxury motorhome parked in the driveway of
Murrell’s 92-year-old mother’s home in Dunfermline.
They later
arrested the party’s then treasurer, the SNP MSP Colin Beattie, at his home in
Midlothian, interviewing him under caution before releasing him without charge
on the same day.
Two months
later, on 11 June, Sturgeon was arrested and interviewed by arrangement with
police, before also being released without charge.
She has
repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and says the police investigation into the
SNP, known as Operation Branchform, had nothing to do with her decision to quit
as Scotland’s longest-serving first minister in March 2023.
Operation
Branchform was launched by Police Scotland in July 2021 after a series of
complaints about the SNP’s finances, which focused on the status of £667,000 in
donations for a pro-independence fighting fund.
The party’s
accounts did not clearly show where that money was held, prompting allegations
it had been used for the SNP’s day-to-day spending. The party said the money
had been “earmarked” through its internal accounting processes.
The party
was rocked by a series of disputes about the transparency of financial
decision-making, with three members of its finance and audit committee
resigning in March 2021 after complaining they were not allowed to see the
party’s accounts.
Two months
later the MP Douglas Chapman resigned as its treasurer, followed by the
resignation of fellow MP Joanna Cherry from her position on the national
executive committee.
With the
party’s finances stretched, in June 2021 Murrell had loaned the party £107,000
“to assist with cashflow” with half of it repaid to him by October 2021. News
of the loan did not emerge until December 2022.
Jackie
Baillie, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said: “This is another
incredibly concerning development in this long-running investigation. It is
essential that Police Scotland is able to proceed with this investigation
without interference.”
The
Scottish Conservatives’ chair, Craig Hoy, said: “The announcement that Peter
Murrell has been charged by Police Scotland is an extremely serious development
in the investigation into the SNP’s finances.
“As the
police probe continues, it is now more important than ever that all SNP staff
and politicians, past and present, fully cooperate.
“The
investigation, which has been going on for three years, appears to be reaching
a conclusion and the SNP must commit to being fully open and transparent in
this critical phase.
A
spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said:
“Senior professional prosecutors from COPFS and an Advocate Depute are working
with police on this ongoing investigation.
“It is
standard practice that any case regarding politicians is dealt with by
prosecutors without the involvement of the Lord Advocate or solicitor general.
All Scotland’s prosecutors act independently of political interference.
“As is
routine, to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations, we do not comment
in detail on their conduct.”
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