Party donations meant for the Scottish National Party were instead used to bankroll a motorhome, a robotic lawnmower and a string of personal purchases, the High Court in Edinburgh has heard.
Prosecutors told the court that former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell embezzled £400,310.65 from the party’s principal bank account, an account “over which he had control”.
Sentencing for the 61-year-old — the former husband of ex-first minister Nicola Sturgeon — is scheduled for later in June.
Setting out the prosecution narrative on Monday morning, Alan Cameron KC said the money held in the account was drawn largely from “membership fees and donations paid by party members and other donors and legacies”.
Mr Cameron said Murrell falsified accounting records and generated fake invoices in an effort to disguise what prosecutors described as wrongdoing, while amassing purchases that included a £124,550 motorhome and thousands of pounds worth of luxury stationery.
Peter Murrell arrives in a prison van at the High Court in Edinburgh
The court heard that among the vehicles involved was a Volkswagen Golf, which was later sold, with the proceeds put towards a Jaguar I-Pace valued at more than £81,000.
Mr Cameron said a false invoice was produced in relation to that purchase, with the claim submitted as a “stage payment”.
A wine coaster was among the items purchased by Peter Murrell
Prosecutors also detailed Murrell’s purchase of a motorhome costing £124,550.
When police recovered the vehicle from his mother’s house, the odometer showed it had travelled just four miles.
Mr Cameron told the court the invoice filed for the vehicle described it as a “van rather than a motorhome”.
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Murrell admitted last Monday that he embezzled £400,310.65 from the SNP over a 12-year period, between August 2010 and October 2022.
Court documents set out an extensive list of goods bought using the embezzled funds, including a space telescope, DVDs, a home library ladder costing more than £900, and a coffee machine priced at nearly £3,232.
The guilty plea has intensified scrutiny of Ms Sturgeon, who has said she had no knowledge of Murrell’s actions and that she was “deceived, misled and betrayed”.
The former SNP leader has said she was “completely exonerated” following what she described as a “two-year-long, very forensic police investigation”, during which officers searched the home she had shared with Murrell.
Ms Sturgeon was arrested and questioned as part of the investigation into the SNP’s finances — Operation Branchform — but Police Scotland has confirmed that no action will be taken against her.
