Former SNP chief executive officer (CEO) Peter Murrell created fake invoices and used “misleading” accounting in a bid to cover his tracks as he embezzled £400,310.65 from his party, a court has heard.
Alan Cameron KC told the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday that Murrell’s role enabled him to make direct transfers of cash from the party’s main bank account.
He also used multiple party “charge cards” as well as making a number of false expense claims.
Mr Cameron said Murrell tried to dodge suspicion by giving his purchases “misleading descriptions and/or accounting codes” in the party’s finance system, to which he had direct access.
Giving some examples, the advocate depute said: “On June 8 2017 he purchased a white Bremont watch for £4,555.25; on July 12 2017, he purchased a black Bremont watch for £4,795.
“Both transactions were recorded on the accounting software as ‘event merchandise’.”
He also gave the example of a robotic lawnmower costing £3,070.
“This item was misdescribed in the accounting software as spending on ‘legal fees’ and was found at his home when it was searched by police,” he said.
Mr Cameron said as CEO Murrell also had “ultimate approval” of all expense claim, including his own – and that he dodged using the party’s electronic expenses portal by claiming he was unable to access it.
The prosecutor said on four occasions between January 2019 and September 2020 Murrell submitted false claims for expenses he had not incurred.
He said in two cases Murrell created false invoices to give the impression they were for legitimate party expenditure.
He explained: “One of those false invoices, for £12,042 from Apple, was recovered by police from the party’s auditors.
“Comparison with a genuine invoice from Apple for purchases by the SNP shows that it was used as the basis for the false invoice created by the accused.
“A false entry on the party’s fixed asset register for the same amount was also added by the accused, with the description of the item given as ‘Apple processor’.
“No such item was ever purchased.”
The court heard the party’s auditors queried one of the fake claims – for £2,478 from the firm Manufactum.
Murrell responded by creating a fake invoice purportedly showing the purchase of four lights, which he claimed were “studio light fittings” he had bought with his own card by mistake.
Mr Cameron continued: “No such lights had been purchased.
“Rather, the accused had used his own money to purchase from that manufacturer a number of items with no connection to the party.
“A genuine invoice from the manufacturer in that amount was found by the police within his home when it was searched in April 2023.”
Murrell also created false invoices in the purchase of two vehicles using party funds.
When he bought a Jaguar i-Pace car in 2019 he created a false invoice changing the name of the car dealer from Pentland Jaguar East to Pentland Motor Company Ltd, and giving the customer address as the SNP headquarters rather than his home address.
He did the same with the £124,550 motorhome bought using party funds in October 2020, using a fake invoice to change the customer address to the SNP headquarters and altering the description from a motorhome to a van, and removing a number of details about the vehicle.
Murrell’s crimes came to light when complaints were made to police in 2021 about possible mismanagement of SNP finances, leading to a police investigation.
Mr Cameron explained: “It was during the course of that investigation that evidence of the accused’s embezzlement was uncovered and became a focus for further investigation.”
