Ex-SNP executive admits embezzling 464,000 euros from party

Peter Murrell, the former executive director of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and ex-husband of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has pleaded guilty to embezzling over £400,000 from the pro-independence party. Murrell admitted to diverting £400,310.65, collected by the SNP for its campaign, between August 2010 and October 2022.

During the period of the embezzlement, Murrell managed the party's financial affairs. The 62-year-old, who was not an elected politician, appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh. The judge ordered him to be held in custody until his sentencing hearing, scheduled for June 23, describing the offense as a "grave breach of trust" and an "abuse of his privileged position."

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grave breach of trust

Prosecutors stated that Murrell used some of the misappropriated funds to purchase luxury items, including jewelry, cosmetics, two vehicles, and a motorhome. The embezzlement case is part of "Operation Branchform," a police investigation launched in 2021 into the SNP's finances and the use of funds raised since 2017 for a potential second independence referendum.

Murrell was initially arrested in April 2023 and again in April 2024, when he was formally charged. Following his first arrest, the party's then-treasurer, Colin Beattie, and Sturgeon were also detained but later released without charge. In March of the previous year, police informed both Sturgeon and Beattie that they were no longer under investigation. Sturgeon resigned as SNP leader and Scotland's First Minister in February 2023 amid internal party turmoil, though she denied her departure was linked to the investigation. She remained a Member of the Scottish Parliament until the regional elections on May 7.

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an abuse of his privileged position