THE BBC has issued a correction after misreporting around the charges facing former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell.
In a statement published on its website, the broadcaster corrected reports it had given on the radio the day after Murrell was arrested for a second time and charged in connection with embezzlement.
The BBC said it had incorrectly reported that the former SNP chief executive was facing accusations about “public funds”.
A statement said: “In some brief news items we said that the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party Peter Murrell had been charged with the embezzlement of ‘public funds’.
“We should have said ‘SNP funds’.”
Murrell was charged on April 18, and the BBC reports were broadcast on April 19.
Embezzlement is the theft or misappropriation of funding by someone who has been entrusted with it, often involving a business or employer.
Murrell is facing accusations of embezzlement and a report was sent to prosecutors at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) on Thursday last week.
Police have been probing SNP finances as part of Operation Branchform, which was launched to investigate some £600,000 raised for a second independence referendum campaign.
Last Thursday, police said in a statement: “Police Scotland has today submitted a standard prosecution report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in relation to a 59-year-old man who was charged on 18 April, 2024, in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the Scottish National Party.
“Investigations continue and we are unable to comment further.”
A COPFS spokesperson said: “A standard prosecution report has been received by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service from Police Scotland in relation to a 59-year-old man and incidents said to have occurred between 2016 and 2023.
“Connected investigations of two other individuals, a man aged 72 and a 53-year-old woman, remain ongoing.”
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