THE investigation into Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP’s finances remains “ongoing”, Scotland’s most senior police officer has said.
Jo Farrell, who has been Chief Constable of Police Scotland for 12 months, told Sky News that the probe dubbed “Operation Branchform” had not yet concluded.
Farrell further declined to give a timescale on when the investigation might come to an end.
The top officer’s comments come four months after former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell was arrested in connection with “the embezzlement of funds from the Scottish National Party”.
In May, a report was sent to prosecutors at the Crown Office, which confirmed that “connected investigations of two other individuals, a man aged 72 and a 53-year-old woman, remain ongoing”.
The two individuals were understood to be Sturgeon and Colin Beattie, an SNP MSP and former party treasurer.
On Wednesday, Farrell said that the probe into the two and the SNP’s finances was still underway.
Asked for an update on Operation Branchform, she told Sky News: "That inquiry is ongoing."
And asked if Sturgeon and Beattie were still being looked at, Farrell said: "Still ongoing."
Farrell was also asked about the length of the probe, which was opened in July 2021.
She responded: “We, I have operational independence and we police without fear or favour and without any political interference."
And asked if it would end soon, Farrell said: "It's an ongoing investigation. I'm not going to comment on that now."
Beattie and Sturgeon were both arrested, questioned, and released without charge amid the police investigation into the SNP's finances in April and June 2023 respectively.
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