<\/p>\n
Holding back tears: Nicola Sturgeon<\/p>\n
Nicola Sturgeon today said she was \u201cserving a sentence for a crime I did not commit\u201d and insisted she was not aware of anything suspicious in the SNP\u2019s accounts during the time that her now ex-husband Peter Murrell was raiding the party\u2019s funds.<\/p>\n
She did not notice a drop of \u00a3300,000 in one year because funds \u201cwent up and down\u201d, adding that the accounts were audited and it was the national treasurer who would alert her to anything untoward. <\/p>\n
Murrell, the SNP\u2019s former CEO, is facing a lengthy prison term after admitting he embezzled \u00a3400,000 from the party.<\/p>\n
Questions continue to be asked about how Ms Sturgeon, who married him in 2010, was not aware of a series of expensive items he bought with the money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea there was anything in the accounts that would have alerted me to what Peter pled guilty to on Monday is absolutely, fundamentally untrue,\u201d she said in a BBC interview. \u201cIf there had been, I suspect the police and the Crown Office might have reached a different position on me.\u201d <\/p>\n
Asked to comment on SNP figures trying to flag to her that there was something going on with the party\u2019s finances, including several who resigned from the ruling commitee, she said: \u201cNo they weren\u2019t\u201d.<\/p>\n
When she had told them there was \u201cno reason to be concerned\u201d she said she was referring to the party\u2019s underlying financial health, which was strong.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThere was no occasion that somebody came to me and said they were concerned that somebody was embezzling money from the SNP.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf qualified auditors weren\u2019t able to see that I am not sure how I and the national treasurer could see that.\u201d She added: \u201cI had to be careful not to step on the toes of the police investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she feels she is \u201cserving a sentence for a crime I did not commit\u201d, adding:\u201dI am not responsible for the crimes that my former husband committed and I\u2019m not going to apologise for somebody else\u2019s crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murrell, who has never explained his actions to her, told her before last week\u2019s court hearing that he would plead guilty. The money was spent on a range of luxury goods, including gifts for his wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cAm I angry with him? I don\u2019t think that begins to cover it,\u201d she said. \u201cNot only has he lied to me and betrayed me\u2026he has put me in a position of real peril, he has subjected me to public vilification, having the finger of suspicion pointed at me.. the humiliation.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of my birthday presents and Christmas presents have turned out to be a lie,\u201d she said, recalling a favourite pendant that Murrell had bought as a surprise after she saw it in a shop in Shetland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat he has done to me will take me a very, very long time to recover from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even so, she insisted she did not consider herself a victim.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a working class girl from the west of Scotland, I don\u2019t like victim terminology,\u201d she said. \u201cI will never think of myself as a victim. The SNP is the victim,\u201d<\/p>\n
On the famous motorhome that Murrell bought for \u00a3124,550 and parked it at her mother-in-law\u2019s home, she said: \u201cI genuinely have no conscious memory of seeing that motorhome.\u201d It\u00a0was \u201cround the sides of the house which is not immediately visible in the way that we went into the home\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said \u201cit was between their house and the next door neighbour\u2019s\u201d and if she had seen it she would \u201cprobably have assumed it was a neighbour\u2019s\u201d, adding: \u201cWhy would it have crossed my mind that it was the SNP\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n
On her future, she said: \u201cI am determined that this doesn\u2019t wreck my life and stop me doing the things I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not think any of her assets should be used to as part of any proceeds of crime.<\/p>\n
Andrew Bowie, the Shadow Scotland Secretary, has led calls for the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster to hold an inquiry into the scandal after First Minister John Swinney said there was no need for further investigation.<\/p>\n
\t #Sturgeon #serving #sentence #Murrells #crimes #Daily #Business<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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