Former SNP leader pleads guilty to embezzlement of £400K

Former SNP leader Peter Murrell has been jailed after pleading guilty to embezzling £400,310.65 from the party at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The 62-year-old, the former SNP leader and estranged husband of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, admitted the charges on Monday morning. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23.

He was accused of embezzling party funds between August 2010 and October 2022.

Murrell was chief executive of the SNP from 2001 to 2023, the same year he was first arrested by Police Scotland as part of Operation Branchform, an investigation into the party’s finances. He was indicted in April 2024.

Sturgeon was also arrested and questioned by detectives, but was not charged with any crime.

The charge against Murrell includes allegations that he used party funds to buy a £124,550 campervan for personal use in 2020.

He and Sturgeon were previously one of the most powerful couples in British politics.

She served as First Minister and SNP leader for more than eight years, while Murrell was the party’s chief executive.

In January last year, Sturgeon announced she had ‘decided to end’ her marriage to Murrell after almost 15 years.

Commenting on Murrell’s guilty plea, Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Houston of Police Scotland said: “For many years Peter Murrell has demonstrated utter contempt for the high public confidence in him as chief executive of a political party and for his position in Scotland’s wider political establishment.

“He abused his privileged position of access to Scottish National Party funds to divert cash into his own accounts and fund a lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford.”

Scottish Labor deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “It is inconceivable that Nicola Sturgeon had no idea about the massive fraud taking place right under her nose at her party and home.”

“It was Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP party machine who tried to shut down the ranks and stop the inquiry when questions began to arise about the finances and we need to know why,” she said.

“[SNP leader] John Swinney needs to clearly explain what he knew and what the party knew.”

But Sturgeon said she was “deceived and let down by the husband I loved and trusted.”

She added in a statement: “To be clear, I had no knowledge or suspicion that he was using SNP funds for personal purposes.”

“I was really surprised that he did that and that I couldn’t understand why. The fact that I was completely exonerated after a thorough investigation emphasizes that this was not my crime. I was just as misled as everyone else.”

Swinney told a press conference he had “never suspected” Murrell had embezzled cash and said he had “no idea” why the party had bought the campervan.

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