Alex Salmond secretly helped police probing Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell over greater than £600,000 in donations allegedly lacking from SNP funds
Alex Salmond helped detectives investigating Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell over more than £600,000 in donations allegedly missing from SNP funds.
The late former First Minister spoke to officers at length about the long-running fraud probe into the finances of the party he once led.
Detectives spoke to Mr Salmond about party spending during his leadership.
He secretly met Operation Branchform detectives but the Alba Party chief had not given a formal statement to officers before his death in October – despite helping the investigation into his former deputy Ms Sturgeon and other SNP figures.
It is understood Mr Salmond met detectives more than a year ago, following a request.
Details of the talks follow concerns about the time prosecutors are taking to decide whether to charge Ms Sturgeon and ex-SNP treasurer Colin Beattie after their arrest last year. They were both released without charge pending further investigation.
Former SNP chief executive Mr Murrell was charged with embezzlement in April.
Mr Salmond also spoke to police about Operation Newbiggin – a probe into claims of leaks about the Scottish Government’s inquiry into his conduct. In March, police said no action was being taken.
Alex Salmond (pictured in 2018) spoke to officers at length about the long-running fraud probe into the finances of the party he once led
Officers raided Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell’s Glasgow home and the SNP’s Edinburgh HQ days after she stepped down as First Minister in March 2023
Operation Branchform was launched in July 2021 following allegations relating to how more than £600,000 of crowdfunding was used by the SNP.
In a separate operation, officers took away a £110,000 camper van from outside the home of Mr Murrell’s mother in Dunfermline.
Ms Sturgeon, who denies wrongdoing, has insisted she is still in the dark about the probe.
Police Scotland said it would not comment on who it does or does not speak to as part of an investigation.
A police file into embezzlement allegations against Mr Murrell was handed to prosecutors in May.
Ms Sturgeon, who denies wrongdoing, has insisted she is still in the dark about the probe
Ms Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell was charged ‘in connection with the embezzlement of funds’ from the SNP earlier this year
He is accused of embezzling party funds, which is ‘said to have occurred’ between 2016 and last year. In an unusual statement, released on the first full day of General Election campaigning in May, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said prosecutors ‘operate independently of political influence’.
Mr Murrell was taken into police custody in April last year and was finally charged in April this year.
A Crown Office spokesman said: ‘A standard prosecution report has been received by the COPFS from Police Scotland in relation to a 59-year-old man and incidents said to have occurred between 2016 and 2023.’
