Colin Beatty claims he was unaware of buying the motorhome at the 'moment of purchase' but then I learned about it “from the annual accounts for 2021.” Photo: Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament.
The former SNP treasurer said he was initially unaware that the party had bought the motorhome for £110,000 despite being in charge of overseeing its finances.
Colin Beatty , who was arrested by police last week, denied knowing anything about the car, which First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed belonged to the SNP, and said he did not sign it.
Six hours after his comments, he stated that he did not know about buying a motorhome «at the time of purchase», but then learned about it «from the annual report for 2021».
They list «cars». ” worth £80,632 among SNP's 'core assets', but does not provide any further details.
The Scottish Police are investigating the party's finances. They confiscated a luxurious motorhome, which SNP sources said was meant to be used as a campaign bus, from the driveway of Peter Murrell's elderly mother.
Mr. Murrell, former SNP chief executive, who is the husband of Nicola Sturgeon, was also arrested as part of the police investigation.
Mr Beatty, who was Treasurer for much of Mr Murrell's more than two decades as CEO, briefly spoke with reporters when he returned to Holyrood on Tuesday.
Asked if he knew about buying the motorhome and signed it, he said, «No, I didn't know about it.» He refused to answer follow-up questions about the car and walked away from the media.
After his response was widely reported in the media, he issued an additional statement saying:
“ Today I was asked in the afternoon if I knew about buying a motorhome, to which I answered no. Given some coverage of this answer, I think it's important to clarify that I was not aware of the deal at the time of purchase. I learned about the deal from the 2021 annual report.”
Asked if the events of recent days were the worst that had ever happened to him, the former banker replied: “No, I was actually in Beirut when I was under artillery fire. It was even worse.”
He declined to comment on whether he resigned before being fired from his post as party treasurer last week. He insisted that SNP was «in the black» and «a going concern.»
The 71-year-old man said he had no plans to resign from the Holyrood Economics and Fair Work committee.
The right person
When asked why he was staying during the police investigation, he said: «We'll just see how it will develop» and that he believes he remains the right and proper person to serve on Holyrood and on parliamentary committees.
Mr Beatty, MP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, was for the first time elected to Holyrood in the 2011 elections.
He was party treasurer from 2004 to December 2020 until party members elected Douglas Chapman, an MP who promised to increase transparency.
Mr Beatty reclaimed the role a few months later, in June 2021 , after Mr. Chapman resigned, saying he was not provided with the information he needed to carry out his duties.
Mr. house in Dunfermline in January 2021, shortly after Mr. Beatty was fired as treasurer.
It is not clear when it was purchased by the SNP and the party still refuses to do so. to clarify whether the purchase was made while either Mr Beatty or Mr Chapman were treasurers.
Mr Beatty had previously tried to explain where the £600,000 in donations requested for independence referendums had gone , which never took place. Questions about "missing persons" the cash prompted a police investigation.
Arrested
Niesmann + The Bischoff RV has been confiscated by police.
SNP insiders have revealed that it was purchased as a mobile campaign center during the 2021 Holyrood election due to uncertainty over Covid restrictions and «minimizing mixing ”.< /p>
However, Covid restrictions have been lifted and it has never been used for this purpose.
Craig Hoy, chairman of the Scottish Conservatives, said Mr Beatty's denials raised «serious questions.» He added: «This confession by Colin Beatty is unbelievable. In fact, he says: “Mobile home? What motorhome?'
“The darkness around the scandalous SNP is getting bigger every day. Humza Yusuf should have long since removed senior SNP figures such as Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeon and Colin Beatty while the investigation is ongoing, but he has shown no sign of leadership.»
The police are also reportedly looking at «burn-in» mobile phones used by party figures — looking for information from SIM cards, including any text messages and voice recordings.
The so-called «burn-in» phones are cheap pre-paid devices, which users can opt out of or destroy when they are no longer needed if they want to maintain privacy. Their SIM cards can be deleted while keeping the data.
Mr Murrell and Mr Beatty were released by the police without charge pending further investigation.
Mr Yusuf, the First Minister, said during a visit to London that he did not believe his party «acted in a criminal way.»
He said he never used a disposable phone or heard anyone in the party discuss them, but said they could be bought for campaigning.
“When you run a campaign instead of using your personal phone, people might well buy a new SIM card and a new phone number and make it the campaign phone number. So it depends on your definition of what you mean by disposable phone.”
Mr Yusuf also said it would be «difficult» to arrange an auditor to process the accounts of the Westminster SNP Group in time to meet the May 31 deadline.
He said. BBC, he «was going to work to meet the deadline» but added: «It won't be easy. I won't pretend otherwise. If necessary, it is possible to request an extension. We're not in that space yet.»
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