Police Scotland is currently evaluating allegations that approximately £1.5 million disappeared from the official Yes campaign for Scottish independence a decade ago. The assessment follows a meeting where activists Sean Clerkin and David Henry presented a dossier to officers.
Mr. Clerkin and Mr. Henry, whose previous complaints about Scottish National Party (SNP) finances contributed to the conviction of former party boss Peter Murrell, stated that police informed them it would take two to four weeks to review the submitted paperwork before deciding on a potential criminal investigation. Mr. Henry remarked that the unaccountable sums of money were easily discernible.
A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed that the information received is being assessed. Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton described the allegations as "incredibly serious" and urged current SNP leadership, including John Swinney, to support a robust independent inquiry.
Yes Scotland Ltd voluntarily provided its full sets of accounts for 2013, 2014, and 2015 to the police on a Monday. However, lawyer Aamer Anwar, representing former Yes Scotland chief executive Blair Jenkins, refuted the claims of missing money, labeling them as "false" and "defamatory." Mr. Anwar explained that the £1.5 million in question represented the operational costs for the first year of Yes Scotland's activities and stated there was no "smoking gun." He criticized attempts to link Mr. Murrell's criminal conduct within the SNP to the finances of Yes Scotland.
Peter Murrell, who served as SNP chief executive and was married to former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, was recently sentenced to over five years in prison for embezzling £400,000 from SNP funds between 2010 and 2022. His crime spree was uncovered after Mr. Henry and Mr. Clerkin filed complaints to the police in 2021 regarding SNP fundraising.
Mr. Henry, who had previously raised concerns about Yes Scotland Ltd's finances with the police, detailed his concerns on Tuesday during a meeting at Fettes Police Station. He submitted company accounts that he believes contain "unexplained" sums exceeding £1.5 million and "significant errors." He stated his concerns were amplified by the SNP leadership's refusal to support an independent inquiry into the Murrell scandal, expressing that "the bottom line is it doesn’t add up."
While acknowledging that it "might all be a misunderstanding," Mr. Henry called for full transparency and urged John Swinney to resign and open up all party and Yes Scotland financial materials from the referendum era. Mr. Clerkin also claimed a detective mentioned "a lot of unanswered questions."
Yes Scotland Ltd, though nominally cross-party, was largely funded and operated by SNP personnel. The organization faced internal dysfunction, with multiple directors departing. Despite aiming for self-funding, it concluded the referendum with a deficit and required an £825,000 bailout from the SNP.
Mr. Henry highlighted a note in Yes Scotland's 2014 accounts detailing a decision by directors to treat donations as "income when received," which adjusted deferred income and increased other income by £878,978. He contended that the £1.5 million sum was unaccounted for, as "other income" was not mentioned in subsequent Yes Scotland accounts.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie emphasized the need for significant outstanding questions to be answered, citing an erosion of public trust due to a "culture of secrecy and cover-up" within the SNP. She urged the party to be transparent about their knowledge of the affair.
An SNP spokesperson reiterated that Peter Murrell's criminal actions were uncovered by a police investigation that found the SNP to be the victim of embezzlement. The spokesperson stressed that Yes Scotland Ltd was a separate entity managed by an independent board of directors, although the SNP was a major partner and campaigner.
Mr. Anwar reiterated that there was a "basic misunderstanding of accounts and Yes Scotland’s financial statements," asserting that all income received by Yes Scotland was fully accounted for and that claims otherwise were defamatory. He stated that Mr. Murrell never had access to Yes Scotland's accounts and that the campaign voluntarily provided information to Police Scotland on July 13th to aid their assessment of a complaint.