Former Scottish National Party (SNP) chief executive, Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell, has been arrested in connection with an investigation into the party's funding and finances.
Police Scotland said a 58-year-old man, understood to be Murrell, is in custody and being questioned by Police Scotland detectives.
Officers are also carrying out searches at a number of addresses as part of the investigation.
A report will be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
The SNP reponded: “Clearly it would not be appropriate to comment on any live police investigation, but the SNP have been co-operating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so.
“At its meeting on Saturday, the governing body of the SNP, the NEC, agreed to a review of governance and transparency – that will be taken forward in the coming weeks.”
Murrell, 58, stepped down as chief executive during the recent leadership campaign.
The Police Scotland fraud probe centres on £600,000 of funds raised in 2017 and 2019 which were to be “ring-fenced” for a referendum campaign.
However the SNP’s accounts showed less than £100,000 in the bank at the end of 2019, despite the fact a referendum had not been held.
The row sparked the resignation of several members of the party’s ruling national executive committee in 2021.
Edinburgh South MP Joanna Cherry said she was standing down from the NEC over “transparency and scrutiny concerns”. Three other members resigned from the party’s finance and audit committee including MP for Dunfermline and West Fife Douglas Chapman.
He was appointed in 2020 and promised to publish a more “member-friendly” set of accounts.
But he stood down after Murrell allegedly refused to fully open the books, saying he “did not received the support of financial information”.
It also emerged details of Peter Murrell’s salary are missing from eight years of SNP accounts. He took up the position of chief executive in 1999, with the first accounts available from the electoral commission in 2008 when he earned £62,993.
His earnings then rose to £109,492 in 2011 before falling to £77,024 the following year despite the party growing exponentially over that period with vastly increased income.
There are then no salary details between 2013 and 2020, before his salary is again listed in 2021 and 2022 as £79,750.
It’s since emerged Murrell gave a loan of £107,620 to the party to help it out with a “cash flow” issue after the last election in June 2021.
Sturgeon has said she “can’t recall” when she learned of the loan but said it came from Murrell’s own “resources”.
The loan was made just months after the Sunday Mail first revealed the fraud investigation in April 2021.
Electoral Commission records show Murrell handed the SNP the loan on 20 June, 2021, with no security against it and no fixed interest rate. The watchdog was not notified until 11 August, 2022.
It was also told an instalment of £26,905 was repaid on 18 August, 2021, followed by a further instalment of £20,715 on 25 October, 2021.
Failing to disclose a political donation or loan can result in sanctions from the Electoral Commission and ultimately criminal prosecution.
Police investigating fraud allegations are probing high value transactions, including vehicle purchases made by the party.
Senior figures have been quizzed by detectives about items of spending and also gifts dating back to 2018, as part of the investigation codenamed Operation Branchform.
Crown prosecutors are now directing the probe which was triggered by at least 19 criminal complaints that £600,000 of donations to a “ring-fenced” referendum fund had been misappropriated.
The last accounts filed for the party show a £80,632 tangible asset of “motor vehicles”. An SNP spokesman declined to comment on vehicles owned by the party.
Murrell married Sturgeon in 2010.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “This is a deeply concerning development and the Police Scotland investigation must be allowed to proceed without interference.
“For too long, a culture of secrecy and cover-up has been allowed to fester at the heart of the SNP.
“We need Humza Yousaf and Nicola Sturgeon to urgently state what they knew and when."
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