Leaked minutes of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) show senior figures asking questions about the fundraised independence money two years before the police started their own probe into SNP finances.
Former SNP councillor Chris McEleny said he was targeted after he asked where the money from the indy fundraiser was in 2019 and said party leaders were desperate to shut down discussion about the money, including Sturgeon.
McEleny, who left the SNP for Alex Salmond’s Alba party in 2021, said: “Nicola Sturgeon was at the meeting where I first raised my concerns in 2019.
“Later I had raised a motion at NEC asking for an inquiry into leaks because it was becoming draining seeing leaks about me trying to damage my character because I’d been asking questions about finances.
“Nicola threw everything against that inquiry being allowed to take place.
“She threatened me and others that we’d have to hand our mobile phones over to be checked, we’d have to give access to our email accounts to see who was behind these leaks.”
Minutes of an NEC meeting from June 1 2019 obtained by the Sunday Mail state that McEleny “had some questions on expenditure plans” but was advised by the party’s business convener Kirsten Oswald MP to ask then-treasurer Colin Beattie, who was not present.
According to the minutes Sturgeon, her husband and SNP Chief Executive Peter Murrell, SNP lawyer Scott Martin and party compliance officer Ian McCann were all at the Crowne Plaza summit in Glasgow.
McEleny said: “In 2019 out of the blue ‘Yes’ [an official independence campaign] was being rebranded and a new fundraiser was launched.
“When this happened it made me question what happened to the money from the last fundraiser.
“I started asking the NEC if this new fundraiser would be merged to the previous one, what is the total sitting at, where is that money and has any of it been spent.
“Colin Beattie wasn’t at the meeting but Nicola and Peter were, as well as Kirsten Oswald and many other senior people within the party.
“They were all aware that I had concerns and their opinion was that none of these questions could be answered because the treasurer wasn’t there.
“I was surprised because, as much as I understand the role of a treasurer, at the end of the day he is a volunteer.
“If you’ve got the chief executive, the deputy treasurer and the party leader all sitting round the table saying ‘none of us know the answer to any of these questions about the finances’ you’re thinking that something doesn’t add up.”
After the June meeting reports of McEleny’s concerns appeared in a newspaper and he asked for an inquiry into the leaks at the following month’s NEC.
Sturgeon made an angry speech about the leaks but did not sanction the inquiry.
The minutes of the July 2019 meeting state: “Nicola Sturgeon – Cannot find words strong enough to deprecate leaking about party members.
“Most of the time people know who is responsible because of reasons for leaking. Not in favour of taking a decision today on motion.
“If there is an inquiry, phones will have to be handed in and emails checked, etc.
“Alternative is to make it abundantly clear today that we are drawing a line in the sand and there is to be no more leaks.”
Fellow NEC member and SNP councillor Norman MacLeod is noted as asking more questions about the Indyref2 fund at the July meeting when Beattie was there.
The minutes state: “Colin Beattie mentioned leaking and that this must not happen again. He is happy to individually discuss any issues with NEC members.
In response to question from Norman MacLeod, Yes funds belong to party and are ring-fenced for spending. Is sitting in party books but not specifically broken down.”
McEleny said there were complaints made against him after he started asking questions about the finances including gripes about his use of council stationery, his social media and his stance on gender recognition reforms.
The former councillor said: “I went from being part of the fixtures and fittings of the party - a senior councillor who had stood for deputy leader - to finding myself being blocked at vetting processes, struggling to put myself forward as a candidate for Holyrood and having intense briefing campaigns against me all because I asked a couple of questions.
“There were constant drips of briefings that were aiming to delegitimise me so the membership looked at me as if I was some bad guy.
“It really was draining mentally, going into my work in a factory or at the council and seeing stories about me or getting calls from journalists all the time.”
In 2017 McEleny took the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to an employment tribunal after his security clearance status was removed when he stood for election as the SNP’s deputy leader.
He said: “I found it less stressful taking the MoD to court than I did raising issues about transparency at the National Executive Committee of the SNP such was the toxic culture and the total compliance of everyone there to close ranks against anyone who the leadership views as a problem or a dislike to.”
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