A business giant under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office sponsored a lavish SNP conference dinner.
GFG Alliance, owned by billionaire Sanjeev Gupta and his family, was behind an exclusive SNP conference event attended by senior Cabinet members, including Nicola Sturgeon.
The SNP Government had already provided a guarantee to a GFG-linked project which could be worth about £500million.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon urged the SNP to disclose how much it has received in conference support from GFG over the years.
She said: "It is troubling to learn that a firm under investigation for fraud sponsored an SNP dinner, after ministers had given a huge guarantee to the company.
"The SNP should tell the public how much it has received in total from GFG Alliance and its associates."
GFG, a conglomerate which includes Liberty Steel, is under huge pressure over the collapse of its lender Greensill Capital.
Questions have been raised about the Scottish Government's support for GFG and the exposure of taxpayers north of the Border.
In March, then rural economy and tourism secretary Fergus Ewing, who left the Cabinet last week, made a statement about the Government’s backing for GFG.
He said Liberty Steel Dalzell Ltd, which is part of GFG, had received a Scottish Investment Bank loan of £7million – with the loan facility agreed in March 2017.
Ewing also said the Government had intervened in autumn 2016 to support continuing aluminium production in Lochaber, Inverness-shire, by backing a smelter in Fort William which is also part of GFG.
He said the Government had provided a guarantee of the smelter’s power purchases, amounting to between £14million and £32million a year over 25 years.
However, it emerged this month that the SFO had launched a probe into GFG's sprawling empire.
The SFO said it is investigating suspected fraud in relation to the "financing and conduct of the business of companies within the Gupta Family Group Alliance (GFG), including its financing arrangements with Greensill Capital UK Ltd."
Closer to home, opposition politicians are asking questions about the support GFG provided to the SNP at its annual party conferences.
The Sunday Mail has obtained an agenda of an SNP conference dinner "kindly sponsored" by GFG at the Village Hotel, Glasgow, on October 7, 2018.
The evening event started with a drinks reception, after which the agenda stated there were welcomes from the then finance secretary Derek Mackay and Nicola Sturgeon, followed by starters and a main course.
Mackay is listed as giving another 10-minute talk and the agenda says Deputy First Minister John Swinney provided an "SNP update".
Jay Hambro, chief investment officer at GFG, was listed as the final speaker, and a seating plan placed him at "Table 1" alongside Mackay, Ewing and SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford.
Five tables were on the list and people from a range of organisations were present.
According to the SNP’s 2018 "commercial" brochure, the going rate for sponsoring the conference dinner was £15,000. However, it is unclear how much GFG paid.
The brochure described the set piece event: "A dinner for business leaders, professional associations and individuals looking to learn more about the SNP in a relaxed and informal setting, while hearing from some of our most senior politicians."
Tables were on offer for £2000 and an individual ticket cost £275, excluding VAT and fees. The document stated: "There will be two SNP representatives hosting each table."
The conference dinner section of the 2018 brochure included a picture of Sturgeon at a previous event, at which she was yards from a GFG stand.
An insider who attended the dinner said Sturgeon was present and added: "It was clear there was a prior relationship between GFG and the SNP and this dinner was a continuation of it."
Lennon said: "A transparency overhaul is long overdue. The new term is an opportunity to do things differently.
"Scottish Labour has sought assurances that jobs in Scotland will be protected following the collapse of GFG Alliance’s investor Greensill, and we expect the Scottish Government to be open and accountable over its decisions."
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: "The relationship between the SNP and GFG Alliance has been profitable for both sides but less so for the taxpayers who find themselves on the hook for hundreds of millions of pounds in Government-backed guarantees.
"The SNP should say how much it has received from GFG Alliance over the years."
We revealed in April how former rural economy secretary Ewing met the steel billionaire and controversial banker Lex Greensill at one of Glasgow's top restaurants.
No officials were present to take notes – a strict rule included in the ministerial code when on government business.
Ewing also claims no emails, texts or phone records exist concerning the dinner date at Cail Bruich in the city's west end.
The Sunday Mail asked the SNP how much GFG had provided to the SNP over the past five years, and whether senior party figures such as Sturgeon, Swinney, Blackford and Ewing had attended the 2018 dinner.
An SNP spokesperson said: "Hundreds of organisations and businesses attend SNP conference every year."
Ewing has faced allegations that he broke conduct rules over a dinner with Gupta.
GFG Alliance declined to comment.
Don't miss the latest Scottish crime and courts news from the Daily Record. Sign up to our Criminal Record newsletter here .
