Branchform saw SNP’s ex-CEO, ex-FM and ex-treasurer arrested
POLICE Scotland recently requested to re-interview SNP staff as part of their probe into the party’s finances.
According to The Times, workers, including those who were not in place when the inquiry began, have been sent letters by detectives.
A source told the paper that the move was being directed by the Crown Office.
Operation Branchform launched in July 2021 after complaints that £660,000 raised by the party for a second independence referendum was spent improperly. The investigation has since expanded to include potential fraud.
Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, her husband the former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, and the former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie have all been arrested and questioned.
All were released without charge pending further investigation.
Officers searched and removed material from SNP HQ in Edinburgh and the former first minister’s house.
A luxury campervan, parked in the driveway of the Fife home of Mr Murrell’s elderly mother, has also been seized.
One senior source told the paper that Mr Murrell had gone to ground, with even allies of the ex-SNP leader unclear about his whereabouts or how he has occupied his time in the 10 months since his arrest.
“Nobody talks about him, nobody has seen him, nobody knows where he is,” said one senior SNP figure when asked about Mr Murrell.
Another party source said that there had been “not a dickie bird” about Murrell and that parliamentarians and staff members have stopped asking about their former boss.
A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “Senior professional prosecutors from COPFS and an advocate depute are working with police on this ongoing investigation.
“It is standard practice that any case regarding politicians is dealt with by prosecutors without the involvement of the law officers. All Scotland’s prosecutors act independently of political interference. As is routine, to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations, we do not comment in detail on their conduct.”
An SNP spokesman said: “As we’ve said previously, the SNP has been co-operating with the inquiry and will continue to do so. However, it is not appropriate to comment further on a live investigation.”