FORMER SNP treasurer Colin Beattie has given a statement to the press after Peter Murrell pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.
The Midlothian North MSP spoke to journalists in Holyrood on Tuesday after the party’s former chief executive admitted to spending thousands of stolen funds on luxury goods, two cars and a motorhome.
Reading out a prepared statement, Beattie said: “Yesterday, the First Minister spoke for all of us when he said how betrayed and angered he was at the actions of Peter Murrell.
“Peter Murrell was entrusted as our party's chief executive and like the First Minister, I'm utterly appalled and feel genuinely hurt by his actions.
“Peter's guilty plea yesterday was an admission of a huge betrayal of the trust of the SNP and for that he will have to bear that on his conscience and face the punishment handed down to him next month.”
Asked if he should have spotted it, Beattie said: “As the Police Scotland statement said, this is a very complex operation and Peter went to extreme criminal lengths to cover his tracks.”
When it was pointed out that issues over the SNP finances were raised and if in hindsight he should have investigated and taken the concerns more seriously, Beattie said: “I think at this point that's all I'm going to say.”
He refused to answer any further questions.
Beattie was the SNP's national treasurer from 2004 until he was defeated in the 2020 SNP internal elections by Douglas Chapman MP.
However when Chapman resigned in May 2021 – stating he "had not received the support or financial information required to carry out the fiduciary duties of national treasurer" – Beattie returned to the position.
The SNP MSP was arrested by Police Scotland as part of Operation Branchform, but was later released without charge.
He resigned from his role as SNP Treasurer in 2023 and quit his role on Holyrood's Public Audit Committee following the arrest.
Murrell, 61, pleaded guilty at Edinburgh High Court on Monday, May 25, of embezzling the funds from the SNP between August 2010 and January 2022.
He was first arrested in April 2023 as part of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, Operation Branchform, and was charged in April 2024.
Murrell pleaded guilty to an amended indictment, after initially being charged with embezzling £459,000 from the SNP. The amount was reduced to £400,310.65.
Following the guilty plea, assistant chief constable Stuart Houston, who had oversight of Operation Branchform, said the investigation was "lengthy and extremely complex" due to "the scale of criminality over a 12-year period".
First Minister John Swinney held a press conference following the guilty plea, describing Murrell’s actions as a “terrible breach of trust” and an “overwhelming betrayal”.
In January last year, Nicola Sturgeon announced she and Murrell had “decided to end” their marriage.
In response to Murrell's guilty plea, Sturgeon said she was "angry, hurt, sad and very distressed" in a social media post.
