YES Scotland has insisted that all money is accounted for after it emerged that police are making inquiries into a complaint about the group’s finances.
It comes after claims that income of just over £1.5 million is unaccounted for, but this has been disputed by the group, who campaigned for a Yes vote in the 2014 referendum.
The Sunday Mail newspaper reported that the complaint was made by David Henry, who was one of those whose complaints about the SNP’s finances led to the separate Operation Branchform investigation.
The probe uncovered former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell’s £400,000 embezzlement from the SNP. It was sparked after an initial complaint regarding “ring-fenced” funds for a second independence referendum.
Yes Scotland Ltd, a company which was set up by Alex Salmond to campaign for independence ahead of the referendum, has not been active since 2014.
Henry told the newspaper that the company’s accounts from 2016 onwards showed a zero balance and £1.5m which was recorded earlier appears to have “just gone”.
He said he was due to meet with officers next week to give a full statement and hand over “documentary evidence” relating to the group’s accounts and “other evidence” Henry claims to have uncovered.
Yes Scotland said in response that the £1.5m adjustment in the 2014 books was due to a change in accounts, adding that Murrell had no access to the group’s bank accounts.
The SNP have said that Yes Scotland Ltd is an “entirely separate organisation”.
“The criminal actions of Peter Murrell were uncovered by a complex and extensive police investigation which found the SNP was the victim of embezzlement,” a spokesperson for the party added.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have received a complaint and inquiries are ongoing.”
Scottish Labour claimed that the allegations against Yes Scotland proved there should be full audit of SNP accounts.
“These are incredibly serious allegations and it is right that they are considered by the police,” Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said.
“There are still far too many unanswered questions surrounding Peter Murrell’s fraudulent activities and the secrecy of the SNP.
“John Swinney and the SNP need to stop running scared and come clean about these allegations and back a full financial audit of the accounts.”
We told how Scottish Labour’s attempt to force a vote on a probe into the SNP backfired after MSPs backed an independent inquiry into all political parties finances instead.
