SNP finance probe timeline - what we know of police investigation so far

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Former SNP leader and first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested by police investigating the party’s finances. Sturgeon, 52, is the third senior SNP figure to be taken into custody after her husband Peter Murrell, the party’s former chief executive, and Colin Beattie, the party’s ex-treasurer.

An investigation into the party’s finances has been ongoing since July 2021 after party treasurer Douglas Chapman MP resigned from the role.Mr Chapman resigned from his role as treasurer, saying he had not been given enough information to do his job.Senior figures in the party, including Sturgeon, later disputed his assessment.Joanna Cherry, a vocal internal critic of the party’s leadership, also resigned from her role on the national executive committee (NEC).Police Scotland confirmed they were investigating after seven complaints were made around donations to the SNP.This followed allegations that £600,000 raised for campaigning towards Scottish independence was diverted elsewhere.Earlier, the police force said they were assessing a fraud allegation relating to £600,000 of funds “to determine if an investigation is required”.The party said that “all sums raised for independence campaigning will be spent on independence campaigning”.As the party’s annual accounts were published, treasurer Mr Beattie acknowledged there had been “concern” about transparency over independence-related appeals that had raised more than £600,000.In a section of the accounts, Mr Beattie discussed money raised by the referendum-related appeals since 2017.He said that £666,953 had been raised up to the end of 2021, with a total of £51,760 expenditure applied to this income.The money was “earmarked” through internal processes, he said, though the