NICOLA Sturgeon has been cleared amid the ongoing probe into the SNP’s finances.
The former First Minister, 54, was previously arrested and questioned by cops as part of the investigation.
Nicola Sturgeon has been cleared by cops
AFPShe was previously arrested and released in 2023[/caption]
PAIt comes after her husband Peter Murrell was charged and appeared in court[/caption]
AlamyOperation Branchform saw the couple’s home raided in 2023[/caption]
PAOperation Branchform was launched in 2021[/caption]
Andrew BarrPolice also raided the SNP HQ in Edinburgh in 2023[/caption]
But today it emerged the ex-Nats leader will face no further action from cops and is no longer under investigation.
Police also confirmed investigations into ex-SNP treasurer Colin Beattie had concluded.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Following direction from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, criminal enquiries into two people arrested as part of the investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party have now concluded.
“The 73 year-old man arrested on 18 April, 2023, and the 54 year-old woman arrested on 11 June, 2023, have not been charged and are no longer under investigation.”
It comes after Ms Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell, 60, appeared in court charged with embezzlement today.
The former SNP chief executive made no plea and the case was continued.
Ms Sturgeon was arrested in 2023 as part of the probe but was later released without charge.
Operation Branchform was launched in July 2021 after allegations were made to officers earlier that year about the fate of £600,000 of donations made to the party.
The long-running inquiry led to Ms Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell being arrested nearly two years later in 2023, along with SNP MSP and former long-time party treasurer Colin Beattie.
The police probe was launched into what happened to cash raised between 2017 and 2019 for an indy referendum campaign.
Mr Murrell was initially arrested and released pending further inquiries on April 5, 2023, after being quizzed by officers.
Police carried out dramatic raids on Ms Sturgeon and ex-SNP chief exec Mr Murrell’s Glasgow home, as well as SNP HQ in Edinburgh.
This took place the week after Ms Sturgeon was replaced by Humza Yousaf as First Minister.
Officers were seen carrying out boxes of evidence during the search of Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell’s home, where a forensics tent was pitched in front of their house.
They seized various items including a £110,000 Niesmann+Bischoff campervan from Mr Murrell’s mother’s house in Dunfermline.
On April 18, 2023, Mr Beattie was then arrested at his home in Eskbank, Dalkeith, and was also later released without charge pending further inquiries.
On June 11, 2023, Ms Sturgeon was arrested, questioned, and then later released without charge pending further inquiries. She strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
In July, Police Scotland’s outgoing Chief Constable Sir Iain suggested Branchform’s scope had been widened and was looking into “potential embezzlement” and “misuse of funds”.
We told in January last year how an update from the Crown Office revealed at that point no decision had been taken about whether charges should be brought – two-and-a-half years after the investigation began.
Ms Sturgeon repeatedly denied wrongdoing or that the probe had anything to do with her announcing her resignation in February 2023.
Last week, Ms Sturgeon announced she would be standing down as an MSP and would not be standing for election at Holyrood in 2026.
Yesterday, she revealed the cover and title of her memoirs, Frankly, set to be released in August.
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