Former Scottish National Party Chief Executive Peter Murrell Used Fake Invoices to Embezzle Over £400,000, Court Hears
Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party (SNP), used charge cards, bank transfers and fake invoices to embezzle more than £400,000 from the party over a 12-year period, according to details laid out in court. Murrell, 61, the estranged husband of former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, used the funds to illicitly purchase goods including jewellery, cosmetics, two cars and a motorhome. He faces a lengthy jail term after pleading guilty last week and is due to be sentenced on 23 June, currently being held on remand at HMP Edinburgh.
Details of the Embezzlement Scheme
The court heard that Murrell used his own SNP charge card, as well as those of two other staff members, to make purchases. He also carried out direct bank transfers from the SNP account, which was primarily funded by membership fees, donations and funds left to the party in people's wills. The former chief executive had direct access to the party’s accounting system and could log purchases himself, though the majority of such work was carried out by a staff member under his direction, the hearing was told.
Murrell was first arrested in April 2023, a few weeks after resigning as SNP chief executive following a dispute over membership figures. Police searched the Glasgow home he shared with Sturgeon, as well as the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh. Of the more than 1,000 items listed in the court indictment, the majority were not found during the police raids. Goods seized at the couple’s home included a custom wooden library, a robotic lawnmower, a bathroom "vanity unit," a silver wine coaster and fitted mats.
Motorhome Purchase and False Invoices
Officers seized a £124,550 motorhome from Murrell’s mother’s house in Dunfermline. The luxury Niesmann and Bischoff vehicle was ordered in October 2020, with Murrell paying a £12,500 deposit using an SNP charge card. The court heard he paid the remaining balance of £112,050 in four direct transfers from the SNP account in December 2020. The motorhome was delivered to Halbeath Industrial Estate in January 2021, with Murrell driving it the short distance to his mother’s house. When police seized it two years later, it had only ever been driven four miles.
Murrell created a false invoice for the vehicle, changing the customer address and account name. He also edited the description of the vehicle to a van, with security and navigation systems and a television removed from the financial record. Murrell is said to have told colleagues that the motorhome could have been used for campaigning purposes. It was not. He was the sole insured driver of the vehicle, and only for "social, domestic and pleasure purposes." The day after purchasing the motorhome, Murrell ordered three guides to "inspirational journeys" around Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland in a camper van or motorhome.
Vehicle Purchases and Other Expenditures
The court heard that the former SNP chief executive made a direct transfer of £16,498 from the party’s account to buy a £33,000 Volkswagen Golf in early 2016. In September 2019, he traded in that vehicle to purchase an £81,000 Jaguar I-PACE, with the remaining balance paid using fraudulent expense claims and false invoices. The hearing also revealed that Murrell spent more than £9,000 on two watches, which were falsely recorded in party accounting software as other items.
Context
Similar cases of political figures misappropriating party funds have occurred in other jurisdictions. In 2022, a former treasurer of the Scottish Conservative Party was investigated for irregularities in expense reporting, though no charges were filed. In the United States, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 for corruption involving campaign funds and attempted bribery, and the late former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was convicted in 2015 for misappropriating public funds for personal gain.