Peter Murrell paid off a £112,050 balance on the purchase of a luxury campervan the day before he appeared before a Holyrood inquiry examining a botched probe into Alex Salmond, it can be revealed.
The former chief executive of the SNP used funds stolen from the party, led at the time by his then wife First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, to pay off the outstanding bill for the vehicle having already put down £12,500 using money embezzled from the party.
He is currently in custody and will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday next week when he is expected to offer to pay back the embezzled money to the SNP.
Former SNP justice minister Kenny MacAskill, a close ally of the late Mr Salmond, said the timings of the payments raised fresh questions.
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He called for a judge-led inquiry into whether there was a conspiracy against the former First Minister who later founded the Alba party.
"I think all this shows that the Murrell sentencing cannot be the end of the enquiry. Only he stands convicted of embezzlement, but his actions run far more widely than simply the theft of funds," said Mr MacAskill who became Alba leader after Mr Salmond died in October 2024.
"Many of us have long argued that there was a conspiracy against Alex Salmond. Peter Murrell was central to that and his dishonesty in other matters now casts doubt on his testimony in the parliament Salmond inquiry.
"The only solution to this given growing evidence of a conspiracy is for a judge led enquiry to be established."
He added: "Rather than playing the victim the SNP and the SNP Government need to stop obstructing the release of information and documentation and commit to that enquiry."
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: "It is clear that there are still many unanswered questions about Peter Murrell's spending and the culture of secrecy and cover-up within the SNP.
"That culture still persists now, as proven by John Swinney and the SNP furiously trying to shut down an inquiry at the Scottish Parliament.
"If they have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear from an inquiry. The public deserve to know the truth, and the SNP should do the right thing and agree to an inquiry into this murky affair."
Murrell's payments and the timings of them were presented by the prosecution at a court hearing on June 2 following his guilty plea to embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP over 12 years.
A the narrative of evidence read out by Advocate Depute Alan Cameron KC explained the details of Murrell's crimes.
Setting out the payments for the motorhome Mr Cameron told the court that Murrell ordered the new Niesmann and Bischoff Smove 7.4e on October 14, 2020.
The KC said: "The total price of the vehicle was £124,550. The accused made three payments totalling £12,500 as a deposit with his SNP charge card.
"The balance of £112,050 was paid by the accused in four direct transfers from the SNP account on 7 December 2020."
Mr Cameron said the motor home was delivered to the accused at the Halbeath Industrial Estate on January 22, 2021 and driven by him to his mother’s home in Dunfermline where it remained until it was seized by police officers on April 5, 2023. The odometer showed that the vehicle had only been driven for 4 miles.
To disguise his crime, the KC explained that Murrell created a false invoice in the name of the motorhome dealer and listed the customer address as the SNP headquarters rather than his home address which he had actually provided to the dealer, and the account name was changed from ‘Murrell’ to ‘SNP – Murrell’.
In addition, the description of the vehicle was changed to a van rather than a motorhome and details were removed including those of the specification and additional options chosen by the accused which included security, tracking and navigation systems and a television.
The KC added that when auditors later queried the purchase it was added to the party’s Fixed Asset Register "but it was never used or seen by any other party member or employee".
Appearing before MSPs on December 8, 2020, Murrell denied he was at home when Ms Sturgeon met with Mr Salmond on two occasions at their house after complaints were made against the former First Minister.
He was also questioned over messages he sent the day after Mr Salmond appeared on criminal charges in court for the first time.
Murrell sent the texts on January 25, 2019 – the day after Salmond’s first appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in connection with a series of sexual offences charges.
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser read out the two messages. The first said: “Totally agree folk should be asking the police questions. Report now with the PF on charges which leaves police twiddling their thumbs.
“So good time to be pressurising them. Would be good to know Met looking at events in London.”
A second message, sent shortly afterwards, said: “TBH the more fronts he is having to firefight on the better for all complainers. So CPS action would be a good thing.”
Mr Salmond was acquitted in March 2020 of all charges of sexual assault following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The verdict prompted his allies to suggest he had been the victim of a witch-hunt within the SNP.
In January 2019, Mr Salmond won a judicial review challenging a finding that he sexually harassed two women during his time in office, after the Scottish Government conceded that it breached its own guidelines by appointing an investigating officer who had prior involvement with the complainers.
The ruling led to MSPs to hold an inquiry into how the Scottish Government mishandled the complaints.
The SNP have rejected calls for a Holyrood or a Westminster inquiry into how Murrell was able to get away with his crimes for 12 years.
First Minister John Swinney has said the police inquiry leading to Murrell's conviction was a sufficient investigation into the matter.
