Does anyone believe Nicola Sturgeon?

[OverlyFragrant]

As per title, does anyone actually believe NS with her claims she had no idea her husband stole £400k, didn't notice the MANY luxury items just appearing around her home, and is a victim in his deceit?

Also, the other element that has been ignored is that Peter Murrell loaned the party £100k at some point to facilitate cash flow. Surely any board or governance structure would have had to discuss this - why was there a problem, what were the terms of the loan etc? And at that point even not to open up the books and look closely, or even acknowledge that there is an issue is a complete dereliction of her duty as party leader (that's the role that's important here, not First Minister).

On a personal level I raise an eyebrow that they didn't even discuss how he was personally financing the loan, but that isn't the point. It doesn't matter what she didn't know in her private role as his wife, it's what she didn't do in her public role as party leader with responsibility for finances and governance. She might be a victim in the first but she holds responsibility in the second.

@Harriet36 "I'd like to think if my own DH rocked up with luxury items and told me he'd made a few good investments, I'd choose to believe him rather than think he was stealing money."

But what if his company finances were undergoing a police investigation? That's the difference. Let's say your DH is uncharacteristically buying high end cars, watches and a motorhome all against the backdrop of a pretty big criminal enquiry. Wouldn't you have the slightest niggle at the back of your mind?

Come on amongst other things he spent the best part of 6k on three coffee machines, nearly 10k on 2 watches, 4k+ on a fountain pen and bought others costing 4 figures, 3.5k on a wine coaster, 32k+ on a VW golf and 82k+ on a Jag and 124k+ on a camper van all on 80k a year. My ex DH earned more a bit more than that over a similiar time frame and God knows he liked to spend money but even he couldn’t afford all of those items. Her earnings were irrelevant as we are told they had separate finances that’s why she didn’t know.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yeevz915jo

You could argue the assumption they were on lease or some other justification - savings etc.

I wouldn't in my marriage, even with seperate bank accounts, be this unaware so to me there were many red flags that were overlooked at home - hence me being 50/50 there's just about a reasonable explanation maybe possible - I'm clearly not convinced but thinking money goes further than it actually does isn't beyond my experience of others.

However I don't think anyone can explain away why questions raise by people to the party about finances were blocked and not followed up. That clearly a huge issue and she's up to her neck in that.

Apparently it wasn't listed as a motorhome but as "transport"

I think people can know and not know at the same time. Like when a partner is having an affair. No direct evidence and everyone can pretend it’s normal and fine. But of course if she had wanted to scratch the surface…

I think its plausible that she did not know. I think the SNP probably needs to tighten its procedures.

The things is whatever many Scot’s personally think of Nicola few I think would describe her as foolish or even naive. I also don’t believe she lacks intellectual curiosity.
Here’s a scenario you DH takes you on holiday in a 124k camper van, even if you don’t know a spark plug from a wheel clamp you must know that this sort of camper van doesn’t cost 5k. So it would be entirely normal when sitting under your awning enjoying a glass of wine thinking this is the life to ask your DH who this lovely luxuary motor home belongs to, if he said “it’s mine” wouldnt you then say “Darling wasn’t it terribly expensive to buy/lease how can you afford it” (especially knowing he’s on 80k a year) or if he lied and said it’s my mother/friends/uncle Tom Cobley surely you thank them for lending you their lovely luxury camper van and then wonder why they looked blank. Then when you combine this with all the other stuff ok forget the loo seats and the Grand Theft Auto etc wouldn’t somewhere in your brain a little alarm bell start ringing?

Its my understanding that those questions were around why money donated to fund a referendum was being used for other purposes and when that was investigated, the embezzlement was discovered.

Did she ever actually use it?

I actually "know of" a similar situation. Several people ended up in jail. One wife was distraught, I believe she genuinely did not know, but another could definitely have not wanted to know.
Were the purchases not made before the embezzlement enquiry began?

I’ve been there done it got the t shirt but I’m not the first minister of Scotland try to claim I’m squeaky clean unlike that lot in Westminster. In her position to maintain her credibility, knowing that many aspects of the media and in fact many Scots were desperate to see her fall and to promote her case for independence she needed to be absolutely squeaky clean. Sadly like most politicians/royalty etc she was so arrogant she thought they would get away with it.
As the old adage say "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

The money that was stolen was money raised for funding another crack at the independence vote. And into the SNP coffers. That he looked after. Raised by donations.
It dropped suddenly. From about £600,000 to about £100,000 or so. But she maintained all was well.
Nothing to do with his personal earnings I think .

I believe her. Still v bad though. Yoi shouldn’t have married CEO / leader that is for sure

I believe her. There are some very sly cunning people out there. I think she trusted him that everything was legit.

Havent read the ft but when people started saying that money was going missing she refused emphatically consider that as a possibility. Perhaps she knew her husband had already been found taking money from the party ten years earlier. Alex Salmond paid the money back for her husband to keep the matter in house, her husband kept his job and then got even better jobs with access to more funds to embezzle. Today the minister defending Sturgeon said she had answered all police questions..apparently she did ..with No Comment!

Except there was evidence from Alex Salmond's time that he was a thief:
The Times says: "Murrell was known as a thief when he was an aide to Alex Salmond, who moved him on when money went missing"
https://archive.ph/0JMm3

Joanna Cherry resigned from the party's national executive committee in 2021 over financial concerns that the leadership refused to investigate - and that was after another MP (Douglas Chapman) had resigned as party treasurer over a lack of financial transparency.

Some people are looking at this as though Murrell's job was unconnected to her role, but it wasn't. It's nothing like two people with separate jobs and separate bank accounts - it's an employee who got this position despite (or as a result of?) his close connections to the leadership of the business/party, who then proceeds to systematically embezzle for years while the leadership ignores or sanctions anyone who expresses concerns about the accounts.

And for those who are saying it's all about whether someone liked Nicola Sturgeon before all this or not, it's not - I really wanted her to be a success initially. It's true that my first disappointment with her was over trans issues rather than financial ones, but I think that just exemplified the problems with her character. I also believed she was doing well over covid initially, so I was still prepared to give her the benefit of the doubt where relevant.

But this has confirmed that my initial positive view of her was wrong, and that my changing opinion as more information came out had been correct.

I don’t know but as husband and wife wouldn’t they go on holiday together. If I’d just bought a 124k camper van and my partner came home exhausted Friday after a busy week in the office and the sun was shining I’d say “Darling lets go away for a lovely weekend in the camper van”
It also would be a safe assumption that he definitely used it otherwise why buy it? Was she so lacking in curiosity that if he went away for the weekend on his own she didn’t in passing ask him where he went and what he did? “Oh you went away in a fucking enormous camper van that’s nice who does it belong too not your mother obviously because isn’t she 94?” I just don’t buy into the idea that she didn’t know it was his.
I know she claims they were living separate lives and probably that their marriage wasn’t good but these kind of superficial conversations are often all that is left in failing marriages.
if she didn’t know she chose not to know.

She stated she cooperated fully with the Police. What she actually did was to give a no comment interview, which is not in any sense full cooperation. She was ulitmately responsible for the finances of the SNP as leader. There was a massive governance failure and Sturgeon was active in shutting down any query of where finance was being spent. Having a close relationship between the effective CEO and Party Leader was a clear governance issue which was never addressed. I do think I would have asked more questions about expensive items arriving with frequency. Notably the camper van. Seems odd that no one mentioned that this large item had been purchased by her husband and then parked at her MIL's house. Overall I find her explanations and actions very suspicious.

I would ask questions - hence my confusion about her lack of curiosity and inital disbelief.

But I had a mum friend who racked up thousands with shopping habit. Her pnd was serve with first child destroying that marriage and involve hopsitalization so why no-one picked up issues with later close together two pg with second husband and her mental health not sure.

Her DH was a HT and her family were lovely and supportive - knew them as well - wouldn't have said any of them were naive. She hid it and she explained it all away - and I think lies hurt them more - blind sided them all when she hit rock bottom and it came out. With her it was debt not stealing and thankfully she hit rock bottom before the debt was unmanagable.

Plus as people say many people silence the red flags round affairs.

So while I don't quite buy it - I can't say it's competly implausible.

It’s worth noting that the police did think she was guilty and that there was evidence and sent a file to the prosecutor who then decided not to prosecute.

It would be interesting to hear the reasons why they didn’t proceed in more detail. Political expediency? That might settle the argument but it currently suggests a difference of opinion.

She says not, but she was seen shopping a few minutes away from her MiL's house where it was kept, so unless she went shopping near her MiL's but didn't bother going to see said MiL, it's hard to see how she wouldn't have noticed it at least. And wouldn't her MiL have talked about the fabulous new camper van her son and DiL had just acquired, seeing as it was staying at her house? Or did they just chat about Nicola's job and her MiL's health all the time? Never mentioning the man they both had in common?

She was also leader of a political party he worked for. She should have done her job and kept a handle in party finances . The wife stuff is a diversionary tactic

It was listed as motor vehicles not transport.

Yup. Hard agree