Revealed: Nicola Sturgeon’s cherished pendant that her embezzler husband bought for her after telling jeweller ‘I’m the man with the money’
Nicola Sturgeon was today told she had “serious questions to answer” after it was revealed her prized necklace was bought with SNP money embezzled by her estranged husband.
The former Scottish first minister and SNP leader has been called on to provide ‘transparency and accountability’ over the ‘absolutely shocking’ scandal that has rocked the party.
Former SNP chief executive and Ms Sturgeon’s estranged husband Peter Murrell pleaded guilty on Monday to embezzling £400,310.65 from the party. He will be sentenced on June 23.
After he confessed to the crime, a list of the items he purchased with the money was revealed in court documents.
He used the money to buy a caravan worth £125,000 and other luxury items such as Lalique salt and pepper grinders worth £2,600 and Fortnum and Mason advent calendars worth £200 per person.
A £425 necklace was one of the items Murrell, 61, admitted buying with funds he embezzled from the SNP between August 2010 and October 2022.
It is understood Ms Sturgeon bought the 9-carat gold Northern Lights-inspired necklace during the couple’s visit to Shetland Jewelery in July 2019.
“I’m the man with the money,” Murrell reportedly told a jewelry store owner when he came to visit. Ms Sturgeon was seen wearing the necklace and in the Scottish Parliament chambers several times that summer.
Ms Sturgeon has been seen on several occasions wearing the pendant necklace that her estranged husband Peter Murrell admitted embezzling to buy.
Former SNP chief executive Murrell pleaded guilty on Monday to embezzling £400,310.65 from the party
Ms Sturgeon revealed that she and Murrell have decided to end their marriage in January 2025.
Kenneth Rae, who ran Shetland Jewelery until his retirement, said he was working on the day Murrell and Ms Sturgeon arrived at the shop on July 28, 2019.
He told BBC Scotland: ‘They came in and while his wife was in the workshop area Peter Murrell said: “I’m the man with the money. I’ve got to buy something.”
‘We’re glad he wants to buy something.’
She added: ‘Nicola has been wearing this necklace quite often and you can see it on TV and we’re very popular with the fact that she’s wearing some Shetland Jewellery.’
Mr Rae said a few years later two police officers traveled from Glasgow to interview people in the workshop as part of their investigation.
He said: ‘We were surprised to hear that two police officers had traveled to Shetland to interview us privately regarding our sale of a gold necklace to Peter Murrell.’
Keir Starmer has told current SNP leader and First Minister John Swinney there are ‘questions that need to be answered’ over the scandal.
“I think anyone looking at what’s going on in Scotland would be struck by the fact that those at the top of the SNP are saying they know nothing about what’s going on, so clearly there are questions that need to be answered,” the Prime Minister said.
Labor leader Anna Turley also said Ms Sturgeon had “serious questions to answer” about what she knew about the misappropriation of SNP funds and Murrell’s “lavish” spending.
He told GB News: ‘It’s very surprising to be honest, I was really shocked when I heard the size of the money involved.
‘This lavish spending is really quite shocking and I think the SNP and Nicola have serious questions to answer.
‘I don’t know all the details, we don’t know what he did or didn’t know but I think serious questions need to be asked because this is unacceptable.
‘We are here for public service and it is absolutely shocking that this type of action would be undertaken. It discredits the whole of politics.
‘They need some transparency and accountability and there are some serious questions that need to be answered here.’
Ms Sturgeon said she had ‘no knowledge or suspicion that personal items were purchased using SNP funds’.
In a statement released through her lawyer Aamer Anwar, Ms Sturgeon said she and Murrell had separate bank accounts and he did not have access to her financial records.
He said: ‘As for many of the items in question, such as expensive watches and games consoles, I had no idea they had been purchased.
‘As for the caravan, which was actually the item of greatest value, I was not aware of its existence until it emerged in the police investigation in early 2023 and was not parked in our driveway as some have claimed.
‘I had no reason to doubt that Peter was using his own money for any item I knew he purchased.
‘We were both highly paid and rarely socialized or went on holiday due to the responsibilities of my job. We had separate bank accounts and I didn’t have access to his financial records.’
Earlier on Monday, Mrs Sturgeon said she was ‘completely appalled’ by her ex-husband using party money for personal purposes.
He acknowledged there could be ‘a political debate in the light of what happened’, but the former prime minister said it was ‘also a deep personal trauma’ for him.
