Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to hand over gifts bought for her by Peter Murrell using stolen SNP funds.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie made the intervention after a financial crimes expert said goods given by Murrell to Ms Sturgeon which were paid for using embezzled money could be retained by her.
Ms Sturgeon admitted in an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday last month that some items illegally acquired by Murrell, her estranged husband and former chief executive of the SNP, such as a £425 pendant from a Shetland jeweller, were given to her as gifts.
Ms Sturgeon became tearful in the programme when speaking about the item of jewellery bought by Murrell in Shetland in 2019.
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"I loved that necklace and I wore it a lot. And this is the other thing. The idea that I would have gone about wearing things that I had known were anything other than what they were presented as, a gift from my husband... to then find out that these were gifts given to me that he'd bought with the party's money causes a level of, I don't know, pain, bewilderment," she said.
She has said she had no reason to disbelieve that Murrell had the means to legally buy the items the purchases, given his high salary, which in May 2022 was £79,750.
Ms Sturgeon, who was married to Murrell throughout his crime spree, said: “He [Murrell] has allowed me to be on camera with these things, that I thought were birthday presents or Christmas presents or just gifts he bought me as my husband. I’m now in a position where even some of my birthday presents or Christmas presents have turned out to be a lie, and that’s really difficult to come to terms with.”
Ms Baillie said the former First Minister -who dismissed concerns over party finances in March 2021 raised by senior SNP members - had serious questions to answer about the Murrell scandal as she urged her to hand over items in her possession bought with stolen money.
"Serious questions remain unanswered and Nicola Sturgeon cannot continue to avoid scrutiny," she said.
"She must address questions over her actions as leader of the party when she shut down members and the NEC asking questions about SNP finances while her husband was embezzling funds.
"If she truly knew nothing, why were the books not opened? If she thought everything was fine, why not investigate the claims made by members? These questions require an answer.
“She should also return all those items in her possession that were bought using SNP funds.”
Russell Findlay, the leader of the Scottish Tories, said: “If any kind of loophole has arisen due to Peter Murrell’s questionable plea deal then Sturgeon must do the right thing and disclose and surrender every single personal item bought with stolen money.”
Specialists in Scots law told The Sunday Times yesterday that hundreds of items removed from an indictment in a plea deal before Murrell admitted embezzlement cannot be seized under Proceeds of Crime legislation.
Worth almost £60,000, the items included many expensive household appliances and apparent gifts for his wife including make-up and underwear.
But experts also said that even goods that Murrell admitted obtaining through the £400,000 embezzlement - such as luxury stationery, leather goods and household appliances - are unlikely to be reclaimed.
Murrell is to offer to repay the stolen sum with assets such as his pension when he returns to court for sentencing on June 23.
The offer to presiding judge Lord Young will be made by Murrell's lawyer as part of his bid to receive a lighter sentence.
Yvonne Evans, a senior lecturer in law at the University of Dundee, confirmed that none of the items struck out of the indictment under the plea deal could be seized under proceeds of crime action already under way against Murrell.
She added that it was highly likely the items in the indictment would be left alone should Murrell repay the £400,000 he had admitted embezzling.
Ms Sturgeon, who said last weekend that “nothing that belongs to me” should be part of any process to repay the SNP, could face a civil action by the party over any stolen goods in her possession if she refuses to hand them over voluntarily.
Court documents show Murrell’s assets include pension pots worth £613,000 and his stake in the home he shares with Sturgeon, listed as being worth £83,000. A luxury motorhome he acquired with SNP cash is also cited as one of his assets.
Another senior legal source, who asked not to be named, told The Times that were they advising Sturgeon, they would tell her to hand any items Murrell purchased with SNP cash in her possession to the party, and secure a binding agreement that this would resolve the matter.
He said the SNP could take “direct remedial steps” to recover what was taken from it “including any funds or property received by Nicola Sturgeon”.
The court heard on Tuesday that some of the items bought by Murrell using embezzled moeny were recovered by police officers during their search of Murrell's home in April 2023, with a smaller number of others being recovered from the SNP headquarters.
Others were found but left in situ at his home, including a fitted home library which was partly paid for with SNP funds, a wooden library ladder, a bathroom vanity unit, a kitchen unit for the boiler and fitted mats in the hallway.
The majority of the items purchased were not found during the searches.
Aamer Anwar, who is representing Sturgeon, told The Sunday Times: “Under Scots law, Ms Sturgeon is an innocent third party but would never have legal ownership of property that has been embezzled — however, these are matters best addressed by Crown Office.
“None of the items in question were ordered by Ms Sturgeon and to suggest otherwise would be wholly inaccurate and defamatory. You will note that Ms Sturgeon was cleared of any wrongdoing, in a robust independent investigation that took two years.”
Mr Anwar told The Herald last night: "Ms Sturgeon has made her position perfectly clear and there will be no further comment."
An SNP spokesman said members of its ruling NEC met last week to hear from the party’s solicitors on how to “proceed in the best interests of our party, our members and the cause of independence”.
He added: “It was unanimously agreed by NEC members that the SNP will seek to recover the money that was stolen from us by Peter Murrell … our solicitors will now begin action in court to recover that money.”
