Husband of former Nicola Sturgeon leader Peter Murrell admits to embezzling £400,000 from the coffers of the Scottish National Party
Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has been remanded into custody at the High Court in Edinburgh after pleading guilty to embezzling £400,310.65 from the political party.
Murrell admitted the charges when he appeared at the court on Monday morning.
The 61-year-old, who is Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband, was charged with embezzling the funds from the party between August 2010 and October 2022.
He arrived at the High Court on Monday wearing a black suit with a black tie. Sentencing is due to take place on June 23.
Murrell has admitted using the SNP’s money to buy items including a motorhome and luxury goods, and towards the purchase of two cars.
The former party boss was first arrested in April 2023 as part of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, and was charged in April 2024.
He appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in March 2025 where he faced a charge of embezzlement, making no plea. The indictment included allegations that in 2020 Murrell used party funds to buy a £124,550 motorhome for his own personal use.
Until he stood down in 2023 during the leadership race to succeed Ms Sturgeon, Murrell had been chief executive of the SNP for more than 20 years.
They had previously been one of the most powerful couples in UK politics for many years, with Ms Sturgeon serving for more than eight years as Scottish first minister and SNP leader, while Mr Murrell was the chief executive of the party.
In January last year, Ms Sturgeon announced she and Murrell had "decided to end" their marriage.
Murrell’s conviction is the result of a police investigation called Operation Branchform, which was first launched in 2021. The operation investigated the SNP’s funding and finances and involved several high-profile arrests. The policing cost of the long-running investigation reached more than £2 million.
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston 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."
He added: "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."
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