Police have arrested a man, reportedly the husband of Scotland's former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, as part of a probe into the finances of the Scottish National Party.
Police Scotland said they arrested the 58-year-old man on Wednesday as a suspect "in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party".
"The man is in custody and is being questioned by Police Scotland detectives," police said in a statement.
"Officers are also carrying out searches at a number of addresses as part of the investigation."
The BBC identified the man as Peter Murrell, the husband of former Scotland first minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The police investigation is looking at what happened to more than 600,000 pounds ($1.11 million) raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017, which was supposed to have been ring-fenced for spending on that issue but was missing from the party's filed accounts.
The party's accounts published by the Electoral Commission, the independent watchdog, showed that at the end of 2018 the party had about 411,000 pounds in cash or cash equivalents.
Police said a report will be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and advised the public to "exercise caution" if discussing the case on social media.
The SNP said in a statement it would be cooperating with police.
"Clearly it would not be appropriate to comment on any live police investigation but the SNP have been cooperating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so," the party said in a statement released after the arrest.
Mr Murrell, who had run the SNP for more than two decades and has been married to Ms Sturgeon since 2010, resigned last month after accepting the blame for misleading the public about a plunge in the number of party members.
Ms Sturgeon also stood down as the leader of Scotland's semi-autonomous government last month after eight years in power, saying she had become too divisive to lead the nation to independence.
Ms Sturgeon said at that time that serving well was knowing when to make way for someone else.
"In my head and in my heart I know that time is now," she said.
"That it's right for me, for my party and my country."
'Difficult day for the party'
The arrest comes after a bruising few months for the SNP, which has dominated Scottish politics for most of the last two decades.
Humza Yousaf won a contest just over a week ago to replace Ms Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scotland's First Minister that exposed deep divisions within the party, and he is now battling to restore the party's credibility.
Talking to reporters after news broke, Mr Yousaf called the arrest a "difficult day for the party" and said that he wanted to reassure SNP members on the issues of transparency and party finances.
"The news this morning, it's challenging and it's difficult," he said.
Polls show support for the SNP and Scottish independence has dropped since Ms Sturgeon's departure.
ABC/wires
