Peter Murrell's extraordinary web of greed has been laid bare as fresh details emerged of his embezzlement of more than £400,000 of SNP funds. The party’s former chief executive had unfettered access to the accounts and used a special ‘charge card’ for fraudulent purchases, passing some of them off as ‘leadership expenses’ and ‘legal fees’.
Nearly £43,000 was spent on goods from Amazon, with almost all of them delivered to the home on the outskirts of Glasgow which he shared with his wife, former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. A 24ft motorhome costing more than £124,000, which Murrell paid for using stolen cash, had just four miles on the clock when it was seized by police.
Political Reactions
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said the revelations ‘destroyed the ludicrous claims being peddled by some that Murrell was some kind of cunning criminal mastermind’. He stated: ‘It is clear that he was free to brazenly steal hundreds of thousands of pounds from under the noses of his wife Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney. These new details heighten the need for a full and independent inquiry which should be unsparing in seeking answer to so many critical questions, no matter how difficult that will be for Swinney and others.’
Court Details
John Swinney admitted taxpayers’ cash may have been in the SNP bank account robbed by Murrell but continued to resist calls for an inquiry into a ‘colossal breach of trust’. Former Nationalist MP Joanna Cherry said Murrell was ‘not a criminal mastermind - he just took advantage of a system where scrutiny and questioning were demonised’. Ex-First Minister Lord McConnell said the Murrell scandal was ‘embarrassing’ Scotland on the world stage.
Court documents show Murrell made a total of 1,066 purchases using embezzled SNP cash between 2010 and October 2022. The nine-page account of Murrell’s extensive offending was read out at the High Court in Edinburgh by prosecutor Alan Cameron KC before Lord Young, and livestreamed on YouTube in a legal first for Scotland.
Mr Cameron said the funds plundered by Murrell came mainly from ‘membership fees and donations paid by party members and other donors and legacies’, suggesting some of it may have come from other sources. Around £2.2 million of the party’s income during the 12 years of Murrell’s embezzlement came from the Electoral Commission watchdog for policy work.
Fraudulent Purchases
The High Court heard Murrell embezzled £400,310.65 from the SNP’s principal bank account, over which he had control. The 61-year-old falsified accounting records and created fake invoices in a bid to cover up his wrongdoing as he racked up purchases. Mr Cameron told the court one of the vehicles purchased was a Volkswagen Golf car, which was later sold and the proceeds used towards buying a Jaguar I-Pace worth more than £81,000. A false invoice was created for this, submitting the claim as ‘stage payment’.
Mr Cameron said: ‘He claimed that the payment was for staging for SNP events and that it had related to a planned national tour of key communicators from the party which had had to be postponed for various reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic.’ The court was also told about a robotic lawnmower purchased by Murrell for £3,070, misdescribed as ‘legal fees’ in the SNP’s accounting software. A silver wine coaster worth £3,500 was described as ‘leadership expenses’.
The advocate depute also discussed the purchase of the motorhome by Murrell, which was worth £124,550. Mr Cameron said it was described as a ‘van rather than a motorhome’ when the invoice was filed. He said: ‘It was never used or seen by any other party member or employee.’ The day after Murrell ordered the motorhome, he purchased from Amazon three guides to inspirational journeys around Scotland, England and Wales and Ireland in a campervan.
Aftermath
Murrell appeared in court handcuffed to a security guard and dressed in a dark blue suit and black tie. He gave a nod to his lawyer John Scullion KC as he was led to the dock. The court was told that Murrell was ultimately in charge of the party’s administration during his period as chief executive. On Monday last week, he admitted embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP between August 2010 and October 2022.
Court papers revealed a lengthy list of items he bought with the embezzled money, including a space telescope, DVDs, a home library ladder worth more than £900 and a coffee machine worth nearly £3,232. Murrell, who is being held in prison on remand, is due to be sentenced later this month. His guilty plea has led to intense scrutiny for his estranged wife Ms Sturgeon, who has denied knowing of his crimes – saying she was ‘deceived, misled and betrayed’. Ms Sturgeon was arrested and questioned as part of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, known as Operation Branchform, but has not faced criminal charges.
Former First Minister Lord Jack McConnell has said a joint inquiry by Holyrood and Westminster committees should examine Murrell’s embezzlement. Mr Swinney, who has rejected calls for a probe, expressed ‘horror’ at the latest revelations about Murrell, saying there had been a ‘colossal breach of trust’.
