Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell was charged on Thursday in connection with the embezzlement of SNP funds following a police investigation into the party’s finances.
The 59-year-old husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon was taken into custody for questioning at 9.13am, more than a year after his initial arrest.
It is the latest development in a long-running probe into whether more than £600,000 in donations raised for independence campaigning was spent improperly under Mr Murrell’s watch.
Who is Peter Murrell?
Born in 1964, Mr Murrell was a public relations officer for the Church of Scotland for four years prior to his career in politics.
In 1989, he was elected membership convener by the SNP Peterhead branch, going on to perform various roles within the party, including as a research assistant to former leader Alex Salmond.
Mr Murrell replaced Michael Russell as chief executive of the SNP in 2001, making him responsible for the day-to-day running of the party, a role he would hold for more than two decades.
Two years later, he began a relationship with Ms Sturgeon, whom he first met in 1988 at an SNP youth weekend.
The couple married in 2010 but never had children. Ms Sturgeon later revealed that she suffered a miscarriage when she was 40, shortly before the 2011 Scottish parliamentary election campaign.
“Sometimes… having a baby just doesn’t happen – no matter how much we might want it to,” she said.
Ms Sturgeon, who became SNP leader in 2014, said her husband was supportive of her political leadership.
She told the Sunday Times: “One of the things I value is that he’s happy with me having the public role… He’s not one of those guys who would feel threatened by it. He doesn’t have that sort of ego, he’s very self-assured.”
Mr Murrell also spoke fondly of his wife, telling the newspaper: “She’s very, very sharp and on top of whatever the issue of the day is. That spark is always there. We are constantly having conversations that I’m amazed by.”
Ms Sturgeon resigned as SNP leader in February 2023, telling a press conference that she felt another person would be better able to pursue the party’s priorities.
Mr Murrell resigned from his position in May of the same year, after taking responsibility for misleading the media about party membership numbers.
The party had previously denied suffering a big drop in membership numbers.
It was forced to admit that it had in fact seen membership fall by 32,000 – from 104,000 to 72,000 – when candidates in the leadership election demanded to know the figures.
In his resignation statement Mr Murrell said: “Responsibility for the SNP’s responses to media queries about our membership number lies with me as chief executive.
“While there was no intent to mislead, I accept that this has been the outcome.
“I have therefore decided to confirm my intention to step down as chief executive with immediate effect.”
Police investigation
Mr Murrell has been charged in connection with an ongoing investigation, known as Operation Branchform, into more than £600,000 in donations that were raised for independence campaigning but may have been used for other purposes.
Launched in 2021, the probe’s origins can be traced back to 2017, when the SNP launched a fundraising drive as it pushed for a second referendum.
At the time, clamour for indyref2 was growing in the wake of the Brexit vote in 2016, which saw Scotland removed from the EU despite 62 per cent of people voting Remain.
A further SNP fundraising drive followed in 2019, with the two campaigns raising a total of more than £660,000 that the party said would be put towards an independence vote.
However, pro-independence supporters became concerned when accounts lodged with Companies House in 2020 appeared to show that the SNP only had £97,000 in the bank
After the SNP’s victory in the Holyrood election in May 2021, further questions were raised when MP Douglas Chapman quit as the party’s treasurer.
At the time, he claimed he was not given enough information about its finances to do his job. Three other members of the SNP’s finance committee also resigned.
A complaint by the well-known Scottish independence activist, Sean Clerkin, sparked the police investigation into the affair.
In late 2022, more questions were raised after it emerged that Mr Murrell had given a loan of more than £100,000 to the party in June 2021, with half of it repaid to him by October that year.
At the time, a spokesman described it as a “personal contribution” made by the then chief executive to help with a “cash flow” issue after the Holyrood election.
Mr Murrell was arrested as a suspect on 5 April, 2023 before being released without charge.
Police searched the house he shares with Ms Sturgeon near Glasgow and the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh.
They also seized a camper van from outside the Dunfermline home of his mother.
Ms Sturgeon was arrested two months after her husband was first arrested, while former party treasurer Colin Beattie was also arrested last year.
Both Ms Sturgeon and Mr Beattie were released without charge pending further investigation.
It is understood that Mr Murrell has now resigned his SNP membership.
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.”
What is embezzlement?
Mr Murray has been charged in connection with embezzlement, which is a form of financial fraud where someone uses money or assets that were entrusted to them for a different purpose than was intended.
An embezzlement conviction can result in a prison sentence, varying in length according to the severity of the offence. An individual may be asked to pay back money as well.
Police Scotland said in a statement: “A 59-year-old man has today Thursday April 18 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.
“A report will be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in due course.
“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.”
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