THE former SNP MP Michelle Thomson will not face prosecution over alleged mortgage fraud involving her £1.5m property empire, the Crown Office has announced.
Ms Thomson, 52, a businesswoman who became a prominent Yes supporter in the 2014 referendum, had been reported to the fiscal along with four other people in December.
However the Crown Office said it had decided that “an absence of sufficient credible and reliable evidence” meant there should be no criminal proceedings “at this time”.
The decision applies to all five people involved in the case.
Ms Thomson, who has always denied wrongdoing, said she was “eternally grateful” to those who stood by her and would now reflect on her “next steps”.
Elected the MP for Edinburgh West in May 2015, Ms Thomson resigned the SNP whip after just four months after it emerged her former solicitor, Christopher Hales, had been struck off for professional misconduct the previous year for his part in 13 of her property deals.
The Scottish Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal said he “must have been aware that there was a possibility that he was facilitating mortgage fraud, whether or not this actually occurred”.
It also said it “must have been glaringly obvious that something was amiss” with some of the transactions involving Ms Thomson or her business M&F Property Solutions.
Ms Thomson was interviewed by the police about the matter in October last year.
Despite appealing to Nicola Sturgeon to have the SNP whip restored in order to stand for re-election, Ms Thomson was rejected by the party’s national executive committee.
It led to her standing down as an MP in June.
Her Edinburgh West seat was subsequently gained by the LibDem Christine Jardine after a bitter campaign in which Ms Thomson’s case featured heavily.
In a statement, Ms Thomson said: “I am eternally grateful to my SNP colleagues in Westminster who supported me so strongly throughout this time. I also thank Police Scotland and the Crown Office for their courtesy and professionalism.
"I thank my friends and supporters who gave me constant encouragement throughout and above all, I am indebted to my family and acknowledge that the past two years have been very difficult for them too.
"I made clear before I entered politics that I wished to use my skills, drive and experience to help shape a better Scotland and that desire remains as strongly as it did when I became very involved in the 2014 Independence referendum.
"However, for the time being this will need to take a different form. I now intend to take a few days of reflection to consider my next steps."
The former SNP MP Roger Mullin, who was one of Ms Thomson’s staunchest defenders at Westminster, said she had been treated “very badly by many in the media and politics", and praised her "quite remarkable resolve" and “complete integrity”.
He said: “She was one of the outstanding MPs in the last parliament, as a brilliant select committee member, and also for giving the most remarkable speech of the last parliament when recounting her rape at the age of 14.
"She has therefore not only survived this ordeal, she has inspired many by her actions, and I am confident will continue to do so. Whatever her future holds, she can be sure she has the support of myself and many others.”
A Crown Office spokesman said: “The procurator fiscal received a report concerning four men aged 48, 56, 59 and 59, and one woman aged 51, in relation to alleged incidents between 16 June 2010 and 26 July 2011.
“After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, Crown Counsel concluded there was an absence of sufficient credible and reliable evidence and there should be no criminal proceedings at this time.”
Prosecutors are still considering a report into alleged fraud related to Natalie McGarry, the former SNP MP for Glasgow East, who like Ms Thomson sat as an Independent for most of the last parliament.
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