The Scottish National Party (SNP) has informed Britain’s Electoral Commission watchdog about its difficulty finding an auditor to endorse its annual accounts before July amid a police inquiry into its finances.
This Monday, police detained the husband of former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon as part of an inquiry into the SNP’s fundraising.
Scottish independence campaigners raised over 600,000 pounds ($750,000) in 2017, which was meant to be ring-fenced but may have been used for other reasons. The police are investigating.
Because its auditors quit last year and haven’t been replaced, the party’s finances are in question.
The party might be fined if it fails to file the 2022 accounting with the Electoral Commission by July.
“We have alerted the Electoral Commission of the difficulty in sourcing substitute auditors,” an SNP official stated.
On Tuesday, Humza Yousaf, who became SNP leader and Scotland’s first minister two weeks after Sturgeon’s stunning departure, said the previous auditors quit last autumn but declined to comment on events before his leadership.
Yousaf said hiring new auditors was a party priority.
If the party misses the deadline, the Electoral Commission might punish them with up to 20,000 pounds ($24,800), depending on the circumstances.
“The party has alerted us about its auditor quitting but the hiring of an auditor is an internal party affair,” the Electoral Commission stated Wednesday.
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