PETER MURRELL has left the SNP as he faces criminal charges of embezzlement of party funds.

He was first arrested just over a year ago as part of Police Scotland’s Operation Branchform, launched in 2021 to investigate allegations that money raised in online fundraising efforts for an referendum fund.

Alarm bells were raised when it became unclear where the £666,953 taken in as part of those appeals appeared in SNP accounts.

Concerns grew further in May 2021 when Douglas Chapman MP resigned as party treasurer, claiming he “had not received the support or financial information required to carry out the fiduciary duties.”

Then party leader Nicola Sturgeon took on the treasury role on a temporary basis, assuring the executive all was well, before handing the reins back to Colin Beattie, Mr Chapman’s predecessor.

It later emerged that then SNP chief executive Mr Murrell had loaned the party over £107,000 to aid with “cash flow,” an act his wife Ms Stugeon claimed to be unaware of.

Last year Mr Beattie, Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell were all arrested and released without charge in the midst of a bitter SNP leadership battle in which the two contenders — Kate Forbes and Ash Regan — both questioned the propriety of a married couple holding positions of leader and CEO of the party.

Three years into the inquiry and over a year since the last arrest, Police Scotland had been under mounting pressure to wind down the investigation.

But on Thursday Mr Murrell was re-arrested and charged in connection with allegations of embezzlement, the first time anyone has faced charges over the course of the inquiry.

Ms Sturgeon told reporters outside the home she shares with Mr Murrell on Friday: “It’s incredibly difficult, but that’s not the main issue.

“I can’t say any more, I’m not going to say any more.”

Asked for his reaction, Ms Sturgeon’s successor as SNP leader and First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “As per the police statement, it’s an allegation of embezzlement from the party.

“That’s really serious indeed. Police, the crown have a job to do, just as I have a job to do as first minister.

“That job, of course, is ensuring that I support business, that I help households throughout the cost-of-living crisis, that I help to cut waiting times in the NHS, that I advance the cause of independence.”