What will happen at the proceeds of crime hearing?published at 11:24 BST 23 June
David Henderson
Scotland news correspondent, at the High Court in Edinburgh
Peter
Murrell is heading back to jail but he faces further punishment in the coming months.
And for someone who clearly enjoyed money and the trappings it brought, this
could be very painful for him.
He embezzled over £400,000 from the SNP, while he ran its political machine.
So he has profited from this crime. Now he will have to hand over the money to
the authorities.
Murrell’s proceeds of crime hearing is set to take place on 14 September.
The judge has sweeping powers to confiscate all the funds
that Murrell took. This would mean the money goes to the state, to reflect
the multi-million pound cost to taxpayers of Operation Branchform.
Or Lord Young could choose to make a compensation order –
which would return all the embezzled funds to the victim in this case – the
SNP. That’s what first minister John Swinney is seeking.
If there’s a confiscation order, the SNP would have to
sue Murrell for what he owes them.
The courts have already frozen more than £600,000 which
belongs to Murrell – two private pension funds and his half share of the family
home he shared with Nicola Sturgeon.
So there’s plenty of funds to sieze.
Whatever happens, Murrell looks set to lose most – if not all – of his wealth, along with his
liberty.
And when he emerges from prison in a few years time,
he’ll have little or no spare money to spend in retirement.
It’s a grim punishment – like something from a work of
literature. The greedy man who ends up with next to nothing.
