LONDON (AP) — The estranged husband of former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon created fake invoices and falsified accounting records as he embezzled more than 400,000 pounds ($540,000) from the Scottish National Party to buy hundreds of items from a luxury motorhome to Nintendo games, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, 61, rode in a prison van Tuesday to the High Court in Edinburgh, where prosecutor Alan Cameron detailed
how Murrell stole cash from the party's main bank account to go on a personal spending spree.
Court papers revealed a long list of things he bought over more than a decade with the stolen funds, including two cars, a motorhome and luxury items like watches and crystal drinking glasses. But there was also a wide range of humdrum household items like gardening tools, electric toothbrushes, a bottle of super glue and shower squeegees.
Cameron said Murrell sought to dodge suspicion by giving his purchases misleading descriptions in the party finance system — for example, by recording a robotic lawnmower costing 3,070 pounds ($4,136) as spending on “legal fees.”
A look at some of the items Murrell bought with party funds according to prosecutors, by the numbers:
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Amount Murrell spent on a motorhome, which was described as a “van” in an invoice, and was never used by another party member. Police said it was only driven for four miles before it was seized.
Total spent on buying luxury leather goods and stationery from London retailer Smythson.
Amount spent on an ornate silver wine coaster, falsely described as spending on “leadership expenses.”
Amount spent on two luxury Bremont watches, recorded on accounting software as “event merchandise.”
Amount spent on two salt and pepper grinders from Lalique.
Number of purchases from Amazon that Murrell made using SNP “charge cards" at a total cost of $57,474 over 12 years, including PlayStation and Nintendo consoles, a Super Mario video game, knife sets, kitchenware and luxury Montblanc fountain pens.
Number of cars Murrell bought with party funds. He first bought a Volkswagen Golf in 2016 using $22,220 of SNP money, and later traded that car in to buy a Jaguar, claiming the expense was for staging party events. In 2021, he sold the vehicle and personally pocketed about $63,844.
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Prosecutors said Murrell was able to siphon the money because he had control over the party’s account, which held money from membership fees and donations by party members.
Murrell pleaded guilty last week to embezzlement from 2010 to 2022. Sturgeon, who led the SNP for a decade, has strenuously rejected any blame for Murrell’s crimes, and said that she was “deceived, misled and betrayed.” The pair announced last year that they were divorcing.
Sturgeon was arrested in June 2023 over the party finances investigation, and was later cleared by police.
Murrell is set to be sentenced later this month.
The SNP has led Scotland’s semiautonomous government for almost two decades while campaigning for Scotland to break away from the United Kingdom.
Jack McConnell, a former Scottish leader, said the scandal has damaged trust in politics and is an embarrassment.
McConnell, who was defeated by the SNP at an election in 2007, said the matter wasn't "just hilarious tittle-tattle here in Scotland.”
“This is embarrassing internationally for us now and we need to take it seriously," he said.
