Burner phone-style sim cards are being sought by police as part of the SNP fraud investigation.
Officers are also probing the purchase of luxury pens, designer pots and pans and even a fridge freezer, the Sunday Mail can reveal.
First Minister Humza Yousaf has admitted he has seen a list of items on a warrant that police either have seized or want to trace as part of their probe into the whereabouts of £667,000 of donations said to be earmarked for an independence campaign.
A luxury campervan has already been uplifted from the driveway of Nicola Sturgeon’s mother-in-law’s home.
Jewellery also forms part of the investigation which has plunged the party into crisis.
Officers were understood to be looking for information from the sim cards which are commonly used in untraceable phones.
A source with knowledge of the investigation said: “Something police are looking for is sim cards used in unregistered mobile phones.
“They want to know the numbers connected with these cards which could also contain numbers called and text messages.
“It’s not uncommon for people to have unregistered mobile sim cards which can be bought from any shop, there’s nothing wrong with having a so-called burner phone but police want a record of these phones in the SNP.”
A burner phone is often used to stay anonymous and protect the usage and identification of the person who has it.
A second source said: “There is an extensive list of items that the police are interested in which will probably be surprising some people.
“It is mostly high value items - expensive pens, pots and pans, jewellery, but also a fridge freezer.
“This is a very extensive inquiry and clearly absolutely no stone is being left unturned.”
Two people - Nicola Sturgeon’s former CEO husband Peter Murrell and ex-treasurer Colin Beattie - have now been arrested and interviewed under caution before being released without charge.
It emerged yesterday that SNP MP Stuart McDonald has replaced Colin Beattie as party treasurer.
Beattie resigned last week after being arrested and interviewed by police investigating allegations of the missing funds.
He was arrested and released without charge pending further investigation into the party’s finances.
Former party chief executive Murrell - who resigned after the Sunday Mail was given inaccurate SNP membership numbers - was also arrested earlier this month and questioned before being released without charge.
The police investigation centres on donations to the party which were supposed to be “ringfenced” for an independence referendum.
Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: “These details raise deeply worrying questions about practices at the heart of the SNP.
“This arrogant and sleaze-ridden party needs to start operating with some much needed transparency and consistency, the people of Scotland deserve nothing less.
“The people of Scotland will be asking - how deep does the cover-up at the heart of Scotland’s party of government go?”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “It looks like Humza Yousaf and his new treasurer have got a hell of a mess to get to the bottom of.
“I wish SNP politicians were focused on our urgent public service crises like the fact that one in seven Scots are now on an NHS waiting list.
“Sadly their eyes seem firmly fixed on the chaos wracking their own party and there seems little sign of that changing.”
Scottish Conservative Party Chairman, Craig Hoy said: “This latest bizarre twist only adds to the stench of secrecy surrounding the SNP finances scandal.
“It is crucial that the SNP cooperates fully with the police investigation and gives the public the answers they deserve to questions that remain unanswered.
“Humza Yousaf must also finally suspend the senior SNP MSPs – including Nicola Sturgeon – who are associated with the investigation.”
The SNP’s National Executive Committee confirmed the appointment of former lawyer McDonald, 44, yesterday.
The Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch MP said he was looking forward to helping “improve the SNP’s governance and transparency”.
A key task will be appointing auditors after accountants Johnston Carmichael, which worked with the SNP for more than a decade, resigned around September.
The party’s accounts are due to be filed to the Electoral Commission in July.
The SNP’s Westminster also need to submit audited accounts by a May 31 deadline or risk losing almost £1million in public funding.
A senior SNP source said: “The party is facing a real financial crisis. Even if an auditor is found, having accounts signed off any time soon is not going to be easy.
“They will also likely be looking to charge a six figure sum given the forensic job that will need to be done, and the potential for reputational damage.
“Increasingly people are thinking the unthinkable in terms of the party being on the brink of not being able to function financially.
“I can’t imagine there were people queueing up to take the job of treasurer, lets put it that way.”
Nicola Sturgeon has faced calls to stand down or face being suspended by the SNP after a leaked video showed her urging the party’s ruling body to “be very careful” about suggesting it had financial problems, the party’s former Westminster leader has said.
We published the bombshell footage recorded in March 2021 in which Sturgeon states: “The party has never been in a stronger financial position than it is right now and that’s a reflection of our strength and our membership. So, just a bit of context for us all to remember.”
Yousaf has admitted he only discovered the SNP had bought a luxury motorhome after he became party leader.
The party leader said he was shown a police warrant to seize items from the party, which included the vehicle.
The motorhome was seized from outside Peter Murrell’s mum’s house in Dunfermline.
Party sources are reported to have said it was intended to be used as a “campaign battle bus”.
Yousaf has said former SNP chief Murrell will not be suspended from the party because he is “innocent until proven guilty”.
But he confirmed the party would not be paying his legal fees.
Police Scotland launched Operation Branchform investigation into the SNP’s finances in July 2021 after receiving complaints about how donations were used.
Several members of the party’s finance and audit committee had resigned in protest at a lack of transparency.
Police Scotland and the SNP declined to comment.
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