The former Scottish National Party chief executive Peter Murrell has been charged in connection with embezzlement of SNP funds following a police investigation into the party’s finances.
Mr Murrell, the 59-year-old husband of the former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, was arrested and taken into custody for questioning at Falkirk Police Station earlier today, more than a year after his first arrest.
Police Scotland confirmed yesterday evening that he was charged about nine hours after his arrest in connection with its investigation into SNP accounts.
It follows an inquiry known as Operation Branchform, which was launched in 2021 into the spending of more than £600,000 in donations for independence campaigning.
Ms Sturgeon, who resigned as first minister and SNP leader in February 2023, was arrested two months after her husband, while former party treasurer Colin Beattie was also arrested.
Both Ms Sturgeon and Mr Beattie were released without charge pending further investigation.
Mr Murrell resigned as the party’s chief executive in March 2023, just weeks after Ms Sturgeon announced she was stepping down.
Police Scotland said in a statement: “A 59-year-old man has 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 spokesperson said: “A report will be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in due course. The man is no longer in police custody.”
Mr Murrell is understood to have resigned his SNP membership after being charged. He had served as chief executive of the party for more than two decades, holding the post from 1999 until he stepped down last year.
an SNP spokesperson told PA news agency: “While this development will come as a shock, the police investigation remains ongoing and it would, therefore, be inappropriate to make any comment.”
The couple met through their work with the SNP in the late 1980s, and were first announced to be in a relationship in early 2003.
They married in 2010 in Glasgow, while Ms Sturgeon was deputy leader of the party and serving as the Scottish health secretary.
During his time as chief executive, the party became the dominant force in Scottish politics, seizing power at Holyrood in 2007 and winning every election since then.
Ms Sturgeon became Scotland’s first female first minister in 2014 and she resigned from the post in February last year. Following her arrest in June, she insisted she had “done nothing wrong”.
While its membership has fallen from the peak of about 125,000 achieved in 2018, the SNP remains the largest political party north of the border.
Additional reporting by PA
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