Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell admits embezzling £400,000

The former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has been remanded in custody after he admitted embezzling £400,000 from the party.

Murrell, the estranged husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, pleaded guilty to an amended indictment at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Earlier this year it emerged he was accused of using funds he embezzled from the SNP to purchase items including luxury goods, jewellery, cosmetics, two cars and a motorhome.

Murrell today admitted to embezzling £400,310.65 between 12 August 2010 and 19 October 2022.

He was arrested as part of Police Scotland’s long-running Operation Branchform and charged in April 2024.

Sturgeon and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie were also arrested during the investigation but later released without charge.

Judge Lord Young said Murrell was responsible for a “gross breach of trust”.

He will be sentenced next month.

Following the guilty plea, Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston, who had oversight of Operation Branchform, said: “This was a lengthy and extremely complex case due to the scale of criminality over a 12-year period and the lengths Peter Murrell went to try and cover his tracks.

“Peter Murrell has shown utter contempt for the high public trust placed in him as the chief executive of a political party and his position in the wider political establishment in Scotland for many years.

“He abused his privileged position with access to Scottish National Party funds to divert cash into his own accounts and bankroll the lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford.

“From 2010 to 2022 he spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on luxury goods while carefully trying to hide his criminality with false receipts and accounting.

“He must now face the consequences of his actions.”