FORMER SNP chief executive Peter Murrell’s embezzlement of more than £400,000 from the party is “terrible breach of trust” and a “overwhelming betrayal”, leader and Scottish First Minister John Swinney has said.
Speaking after Murrell admitted the charges when he appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday morning, Swinney said at a press conference that the "SNP is the victim in this case".
He added that the crime was a "terrible breach of trust and an overwhelming betrayal by the man entrusted to be the party's chief executive".
Murrell was charged with embezzling the funds from the SNP between August 2010 and October 2022.
He admitted an amended indictment which reduced the amount of the embezzled money down from more than £459,000 to £400,310.65.
Reacting, Swinney said: “Peter Murrell’s guilty plea confirms that the Scottish National Party has been the victim of embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of pounds of funds, provided by SNP members.
“This is an admission of a terrible breach of trust and an overwhelming betrayal by the man entrusted to be the party’s chief executive."
Swinney said he “never suspected” Murrell had been embezzling the cash, adding the party had been “badly, badly let down”.
The SNP leader said party funds were raised from “thousands of dedicated SNP activists”, and added: “Those are the people in my thoughts when I talk about betrayal.”
He further said: “By embezzling from the SNP, Peter Murrell was stealing the hopes, the dreams and the aspirations of thousands of people all over Scotland, people who gave what they could over many years in the hope that it would help contribute to a better country.
“So today I am horrified, I am betrayed.”
But he added: “I am also resolute about the future. I returned to the SNP leadership two years ago because I could see the party I loved was not in the best place.
“I promised that we would get back on track. A key part of that has been the process to strengthen our governance structures and our party finances.
“That has been an ongoing process over a number of years.”
When asked how he was personally feeling, Swinney said :"What I’m thinking about – what I’ve not been able to stop thinking about – is the decent people who have stood with me at coffee mornings and jumble sales and thrift shops, raising the money, paying the money to party headquarters, paying their memberships.
"People I know who don’t have much money to rub together, but have paid their membership subs to keep the SNP afloat because they believe in independence.
"So how am I feeling, David? That’s how I’m feeling today."
.png?w=600)
