SNP: Two Murrells, one motorhome and a shed-load of missing cash

[nomadking]

One Murrell down, one still to go.
He's pled guilty.

He added: “From 2010 to 2022 he spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on luxury goods while carefully trying to hide his criminality with false receipts and accounting.

Any news on the missing £600,000 indyref2 money? It was that investigation that uncovered the other missing £400,000.

[jfman]

I suspect the £400,000 embezzled by Mr Sturgeon is what’s left of that money. The rest presumably papered over the cracks in the party finances for legitimate spend.

[papa smurf]

when he funded his lavish lifestyle with stolen money did he just spend it on himself or was he living with another person who benefited from his crime,i only ask because you would have to be either blind or incredibly stupid to not realise the boost in household income.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by jfman

I suspect the £400,000 embezzled by Mr Sturgeon is what’s left of that money. The rest presumably papered over the cracks in the party finances for legitimate spend.

The fraud started in 2010, which was 7 years before the indyref2 money came in. He had the cheek to give the party a £100K loan.
If the indyref2 money hasn't been found, then Operation Branchform should still be ongoing. That is it's purpose. Weird to think that without the complaints about the indyref2 money, his fraud wouldn't have been uncovered.
In theory, the SNP could be asked to hand back the £600K of indyref2 money.

---------- Post added at 12:54 ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 ----------

Originally Posted by papa smurf

when he funded his lavish lifestyle with stolen money did he just spend it on himself or was he living with another person who benefited from his crime,i only ask because you would have to be either blind or incredibly stupid to not realise the boost in household income.

There's 125 pages of what he bought.

[jfman]

There was no side pot of £600k, the SNP simply don’t have it to “give” back.

I appreciate some gave the impression that there was/is such a thing. The extent to which it covered for, and was extracted by, Mr Sturgeon could probably be established. But the idea it’s sitting there for people to claim back is for the birds.

A fool and his money are soon parted, and anyone who ever thought there would be another Scexit referendum within 30 years of the last one is a fool, doubly so if they hand over their hard-earned to the shower of useless district councillors that call themselves the SNP. Mind you, constantly keeping the Ultras on tenterhooks is what pays for the party (literally) - as we will doubtless see once again over the next week or so, while we get the SNP’s latest, entirely performative ‘Indy debate’ in the shortbread senate over and done with.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by jfman

There was no side pot of £600k, the SNP simply don’t have it to “give” back.

I appreciate some gave the impression that there was/is such a thing. The extent to which it covered for, and was extracted by, Mr Sturgeon could probably be established. But the idea it’s sitting there for people to claim back is for the birds.

The Treasurer claimed it was ring-fenced and not spent.But the donors could ask for it back. That is why the complaints started.
If it all went into general funds, the SNP didn't declare those donations.
If the SNP do get their way and there is an indyref2, where are they going to get the money from? Would those same donors, donate yet again?

[jfman]

Originally Posted by nomadking

The Treasurer claimed it was ring-fenced and not spent.But the donors could ask for it back. That is why the complaints started.
If it all went into general funds, the SNP didn't declare those donations.
If the SNP do get their way and there is an indyref2, where are they going to get the money from? Would those same donors, donate yet again?

They could ask, but it isn't there.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by jfman

They could ask, but it isn't there.

They would still have to give it back.


He didn't just go for big purchases, eg £11 on 2 washing up bowls, £3.60 on shower cleaner.
630 purchases listed.

[jfman]

Nicola "I will be making no further comment" lasted a mere 4 hours before further comment. Interesting.

[papa smurf]

there's a house that can be sold

[jfman]

A worthwhile read (with apologies to those not on X) from Sam Taylor who heads up a unionist think tank These Islands in Edinburgh.

https://x.com/staylorish/status/2059...967113374?s=20

Where did the ring fenced money go? The 2017 General Election campaign. Who knew? Everyone. Who made off with his loot during the cover up of that story? Pete whose biggest years were 2019 and 2020. Prior to 2015 his embezzlements all amounted to single figure thousands per year.

One of the deeply annoying things about all this is that it makes ‘Rev’ Stu Campbell (a.k.a. Wings Over Scotland) look like a credible, competent operator, despite his being responsible for one of the most egregious pieces of magical thinking of 2014 (his ‘Wee Blue Book’, part of the wider indyref campaign that year). That and his annoyingly funny interventions in the ongoing Twitter fight-back against Genderwoo, but that’s for the other thread.

Taylor’s analysis here is persuasive, and it does answer the pressing question of how Nippy Sturgeon could really think we’d buy her claims that she had no idea what was going on. As Taylor puts it, her claims are plausible because she was already looking the other way, trying to cover up something ‘merely’ dishonest rather than outright criminal.

For me one of the more entertaining things about this week was how Murrell more or less torpedoed any coverage of Tuesday’s performative debate and vote on the latest indyref that won’t happen.

[jfman]

I hope Mr Anwar is getting paid by the word as he's onto his third (by my count) statement since his client, Ms Sturgeon, said she had nothing more to say on the matter.

"It would appear some ‘armchair detectives’ think they are better placed than the gold-plated investigation of Police Scotland and now wish to try Ms Sturgeon for crimes she has not committed"

Irony overload since Sturgeon and her supporters were happy to continue to imply the guilt of Alex Salmond for crimes for which he had actually been cleared.

[nomadking]

She could've have had daily discussions with her husband over the fraud and nobody else would know about it. Just having no proof, is not necessarily complete exoneration.
Didn't she notice they were buying a new coffee machine each year?

24 April 2016, Jura GIGA 5 Cromo Coffee Machine, £3231.90
1 February 2017, Jura Bean to Coffee Machine in Chrome, £1865.75
2018 ,Jura Z8 Fully Automatic, Bean To Cup Coffee Machine, £2595