On Saturday, Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister of Scotland was arrested and questioned as a suspect by officers who have been investigating for the past two years what happened to more than £600,000 of donations to the Scottish National Party (SNP). She was then released. Sturgeon unexpected resigned in February. It follows the arrest and subsequent release of her husband, ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, in April 2023.
Background: Nicola Sturgeon served as Scotland’s first minister for more than eight years. Police Scotland launched Operation Branchform investigation two years ago after complaints were made about what happened to £666,954 that was donated to the SNP by activists for a future independence referendum campaign. The party’s later accounts showed it had just under £97,000 in the bank at the end of 2019, and total net assets of about £272,000. In 2022, it emerged Murrell gave a loan of more than £100,000 to the SNP to help it out with a “cash flow” issue after the last election. The SNP had repaid about half of the loan by October of that year, but still owes money to Murrell – although it has not said how much.
According to the Scottish police, Nicola Sturgeon was “released without charge pending further investigation.” (In Scotland, individuals can be arrested for questioning and subsequently released during ongoing investigations. On Twitter Sturgeon quickly proclaimed her innocence: “I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.”
The police also apprehended and subsequently released Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s husband and the former chief executive of the SNP, as well as Colin Beattie, the party’s former treasurer. The inquiry, initiated in 2021, focuses on the management of approximately $750,000 in donations raised for the purpose of advocating for a second independence referendum.
Currently, Scottish authorities are examining whether funds were diverted for alternative uses and the reasons behind Sturgeon’s husband providing a loan to the party.
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