Now police probe Yes group over 'missing' £1.5million funds

By MICHAEL BLACKLEY, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 21:44, 5 July 2026 | Updated: 21:50, 5 July 2026 Police are probing claims that £1.5million went missing from a company set up by the SNP to run the pro-independence campaign, leading to further calls for a full parliamentary inquiry into the Peter Murrell scandal. A complaint has been made to police by a former SNP branch secretary about ‘anomalies’ in the accounts of Yes Scotland, which was formed by then-First Minister Alex Salmond in the run-up to the 2014 referendum. David Henry, who once stood to be SNP national secretary and was one of the complainers who sparked the Operation Branchform probe into the party’s finances, made a formal complaint about fraud concerns last Thursday. He is set to give a full statement to police tomorrow and hand over a dossier of evidence. Police Scotland confirmed inquiries into the issue are ongoing. Yes Scotland was set up by the SNP and remains an active company. Details of the concerns have added to calls for a full parliamentary inquiry into the fallout from Murrell being sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP. MPs last week urged Holyrood to launch an inquiry into the scandal but the SNP opposed the move, saying MSPs had already voted on the issue. Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘These are incredibly serious allegations. There are still far too many unanswered questions surrounding Peter Murrell’s fraudulent activities and the secrecy of the SNP. Yes Scotland was formed by then-First Minister Alex Salmond in the run-up to the 2014 referendum ‘John Swinney and the SNP need to stop running scared and back a full audit of the accounts.’ Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said: ‘Peter Murrell’s crimes were enabled by the SNP’s toxic culture of control and aggressive aversion to basic levels of scrutiny. ‘But John Swinney’s determination to shut down an independent inquiry shows that they haven’t learned any lessons. ‘That’s why an inquiry is critical and why these latest allegations should be fully investigated by the police.’ Mr Henry’s concerns relate to a note in Yes Scotland’s 2014 accounts, which says: ‘Directors have reviewed the accounting treatment of donations and these are now recognised as income when received.  'This has resulted in deferred income as at April 30, 2013 being reduced from £878,978 to £nil and has increased other income by £878,978 from £1,524,998 to £2,403,976.’ Mr Henry claims the £1.5million sum referred to is unaccounted for as no ‘other income’ is mentioned in subsequent accounts.  He said his evidence to police will also include concerns about whether SNP staff acting as ‘shadow directors’ at Yes Scotland were following direction from senior Nationalist staff amid claims ‘the whole thing stinks’. Mr Henry told the Sunday Mail: ‘Nothing adds up. The Yes campaign took in millions but from 2016 dormant accounts have been submitted with zero balances; the money is just gone.’ A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘We have received a complaint and inquiries are ongoing.’ An SNP spokesman said: ‘The criminal actions of Peter Murrell were uncovered by a police investigation which found the SNP was the victim of embezzlement.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.