Thread by @DeanMThomson

Now you see it, now you don't

The story behind the allegedly missing £600,000 SNP 'indyref2' fund.

Where it originated from, when it allegedly first went missing. Why it matters now SNP figures are resigning from the finance & audit committee & national treasurer role.
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1⃣ The year is 2017, before the General Election of that year. And the SNP launched a fundraiser for a planned indyref2.

On ref.scot it was made clear that all money raised on the website was to be ringfenced to fight a future independence referendum
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And according to reporting this indyref2 fundraiser; which was explicitly stated as being for the purposes of a future indyref2; raised £482,000 of the original £1m target.
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Nicola Sturgeon herself even featured on the website via a video.

But then something unexpected happened...
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2⃣ Theresa May called a surprise General Election, where the SNP lost 21 MPs (and all the money associated with that from Westminster)

Following GE2017, FM Nicola Sturgeon put a pause on the indyref2 push accepting it had been a negative factor.
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The SNP then announced they would launch a party fundraiser in the future to help cover the costs of the General Election...
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3⃣ Now remember, the SNP explicitly publicly stated at the time (2017) the £482,000 money raised wasn't to be used for SNP party business...
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4⃣ Because that 'ring fenced' $482,000 indyref fund seemed to disappear from SNP accounts by 2018.....

SNP by Dec 31st 2018 only had £411,042 as 'cash at hand' in the bank. And had £880,054 'debtors and repayments'.

Zero sign of the £482,000 'ring fenced' fund from 2017.
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5⃣ That's not all, yes.scot also was running an indyref2 fundraiser...

And it reportedly raised hundreds of thousands (mysteriously however, the then website never ran a running total for public viewing)
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But either way, yes.scot and ref.scot websites both were visibly branded SNP at the time of these appeals.

So it's reasonable to assume the SNP were holding these 'ring fenced' funds & not some as-still-unknown 'yes' type third company.
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6⃣ By 2019 the upwards of £600,000 'ring fenced' indyref2 fund was still missing...

In 2019, we discover the SNP *STILL* can't account for any 'ring fenced' indyref2 funds in their accounts.

Cash in hand: £96,854.
Debtors and prepayments: £1,000,268
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7⃣After questioning the SNP explained the missing fund was "woven through" the 2019 accounts...

'Woven through' is meaningless,but more interestingly, this explanation means the SNP HAVE been responsible for the indyref2 funds all this time (not a third party 'yes' firm)
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8⃣But since this 'woven through' excuse, other SNP aligned figures suggested publicly it was actually spent on undisclosed 'indyref 2 preparations'

So, 'Woven through' 2018/2019 accounts in some bizarre & byzantine fashion or already spent on 'pre-indyref2 preparations'?
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Interestingly the claim of 'preparations' is suitably vague to cover all manner of potential sins.

Let me give an example by way of Mr Marco Biagi and the SNP's new 'indyref2 Task Force'
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Marco Biagi was heading a new “taskforce” charged with “laying the groundwork for a new Yes campaign”

He was to be allocated EXISTING STAFF from elsewhere inside the SNP until after the Holyrood election.
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And there you have it, if SNP leadership can claim existing staff (wages SNP already pay) are assigned to Biagi, then the SNP could in the future claim those wages were expenditures in pursuit of the new "preparations"

Magic! How to quickly disappear a £600,000 fund.
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9⃣ So why is this important now?

Why does all this suddenly matter now? Well in March three members of the SNP Finance & Audit Committee resigned, claiming SNP chief exec (husband to Nicola Sturgeon) Peter Murrell was refusing them full access to party books
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And May has seen three more resignations.

Marco Biagi resigned from the SNP's 'indyref2 task force' labelling it hell.

SNP national treasurer has resigned, claiming he is being prevented from doing his legal fiduciary duties.

SNP NEC member Joanna Cherry resigned too
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🔟 So where is the money?

Nobody knows.

But the police have received a formal complaint and are assessing it to determine what (if any) their next steps might be...
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➡️I did a thread earlier today examining what the hell is going on with SNP finances?

https://twitter.com/DeanMThomson/status/1399043904889143297?s=20

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➡️And I did an earlier March thread on the then resignations from the SNP Finance & Audit Committee

https://twitter.com/DeanMThomson/status/1373691397610569733?s=20

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Sources:

'SNP: All the money raised on #ScotRef website is ringfenced to fight a future independence referendum'
thenational.scot/news/15344728.…

Scottish independence: Marco Biagi unveiled as strategist in Yes taskforce
thenational.scot/news/19034584.…

Sources (continued):

SNP in turmoil after Indy taskforce chief quits 'worst job ever' and 'malcontent' treasurer resigns (Herald)
heraldscotland.com/news/19339046.…

Cherry quits SNP ruling body over transparency block (Herald)
heraldscotland.com/news/19340582.…