Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has been jailed for more than five years after embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.
The 61-year-old used the funds to make hundreds of extravagant purchases, including a £124,550 motorhome, cars, jewellery, luxury homewares and designer stationery.
He also falsified accounting records and created fake invoices in a bid to cover up his wrongdoing.
Murrell last month pleaded guilty to embezzling a total of £400,310.65 over a 12-year period between August 2010 and October 2022.
He was jailed for a backdated sentence of five years and three months at Edinburgh High Court on Tuesday.
open image in galleryJudge Lord Young told Murrell he had committed a “calculated crime of dishonesty”, with a “large number of fraudulent acts over a 12-month period while you were chief executive officer of the SMP”
He said the offending increased in frequency and amount over time.
He added: “You found yourself unable to stop this offending, and it was only the detection of the crime that brought it to an end.”
Murrell’s lawyer John Scullion KC said his client has lived in “isolation” since his guilty plea.
He told the High Court in Edinburgh: “For many months he has lived in almost total isolation.”
He said his client accepted blame and he had been “ostracised” by his former colleagues.
Mr Scullion said he had become a “figure of public ridicule” as a result of his purchases.
The defence lawyer also said Murrell had sufficient funds to repay the money he embezzled.
The court was told that Murrell wanted to repay the money as a way to make a start toward atoning for his crimes.
He said that his client acknowledges a custodial sentence entirely deserved, adding that Murrell recognises the harm his actions have caused.
“In my submission, the accused is now an individual overwhelmed by feelings of embarrassment and shame, ” he told judge Lord Young.
open image in galleryConfiscation hearings have been postponed until September this year.
The court previously heard Murrell’s role enabled him to make direct transfers of cash from the party’s main bank account, which held funds from “membership fees and donations paid by party members and other donors and legacies”.
Murrell also used multiple party “charge cards”, as well as making a number of false expense claims.
He 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.
The court heard a robotic lawnmower, which was purchased by Murrell for £3,070, was misdescribed as “legal fees” in the SNP’s accounting software.
A silver wine coaster worth £3,500 was described as “leadership expenses”.
Murrell’s offending came to light after police began receiving complaints about potential mismanagement of the SNP’s finances in March 2021.
This led to an investigation, during which police uncovered evidence of Murrell’s embezzlement.
Murrell’s guilty plea has led to intense scrutiny for his former wife Nicola Sturgeon, who has denied knowing of his crimes – saying she was “deceived, misled and betrayed”.
The former SNP leader said she has been “completely exonerated” after a “two-year-long, very forensic police investigation” which saw police officers search the home she and Murrell had shared.
Ms Sturgeon was arrested and questioned as part of the police investigation into the SNP’s finances, which was known as Operation Branchform, but Police Scotland confirmed she would face no action.
The case has also led to widespread calls for inquiries into Murrell’s wrongdoing.