THE SNP will reportedly pursue Peter Murrell for the money he embezzled from the party.
The party’s National Executive Committee agreed to a proposal by First Minister John Swinney last night to launch a compensation order to try and recoup the cash, ITV Border reports.
An SNP source told the channel: “The NEC were unanimous in their position that we should seek to recover the funds stolen from us by Peter Murrell."
The broadcaster also reports that the SNP will also lodge a secondary civil action against Murrell but immediately suspend it in case "something goes wrong" with the proceeds of crime action.
Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive and estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, admitted at the High Court in Edinburgh last week to embezzling over £400,000 in party funds over a 12‑year period, using SNP money for personal expenditure.
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 £3232.
Two cars and a £124,550 motorhome were also among the purchases.
Murrell’s guilty plea has led to intense scrutiny for his former wife Sturgeon, who has denied knowing of his crimes – saying she was “deceived, misled and betrayed”.
Sturgeon was arrested and questioned as part of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, which was known as Operation Branchform, but Police Scotland confirmed she would face no action.
Murrell’s guilty plea has also led to calls for an independent investigation into the SNP’s finances as well as scrutiny over the £600,000 raised in 2017 for an independence referendum campaign.
Yesterday, the First Minister admitted it had been spent on general party campaigning purposes.
Swinney insisted: "That money is part of the resources available within the SNP to support its independence objectives. The SNP is the party of independence."
But the comments have now led to Sean Clerkin, the independence activist who was behind the original police complaint into the indyref2 donations which triggered Operation Branchform, reporting the First Minister to the police.
Meanwhile, opposition politicians are pushing for an inquiry in either Holyrood or Westminster, or both, to examine Murrell’s embezzlement.
However, Swinney has said there is no need for such an inquiry, emphasising the detailed nature of the police investigation.
He told the Press Association last week: “The police investigation has led to a criminal case.
“There has been a prosecution and there has been a guilty plea and there will be sentencing taking place as a consequence.
“So, all these issues have been looked at.
“We know what the problem was – the problem was criminal behaviour and the police have identified that and the individual involved has been prosecuted.”
