BREAKING: Nicola Sturgeon ARRESTED Today Amid Fraud Inquiry

FORMER First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested today in relation to an ongoing inquiry into funding and finances of the SNP. 

Police Scotland said she is in custody and is being questioned by detectives.

The force said: “A 52-year-old woman has today, Sunday, June 11, been arrested as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.”

The former first minister’s arrest comes after her husband Peter Murrell was arrested in April.

Murrell, 58, stepped down as the SNP’s chief executive earlier this year after more than two decades in the role following Sturgeon’s shock resignation as first minister in February.

Sturgeon served as the country’s first minister for eight years, but dramatically announced she would resign from her post on February 15.

At the time, Sturgeon said she knew the “time is now” for her to stand down, adding that the move was “right for me, for my party and for the country.”

Her announcement sparked a fierce leadership battle which was won by Humza Yousaf.

But it now seems that the timing of Sturgeon’s resignation was no coincidence, and that the long-time leader of Scotland’s independence movement may have stood down after learning of the ongoing investigation and her husband’s – and now her own – imminent arrest.

Police Scotland has been investigating the SNP’s handling of money that was slated for Scottish independence campaigning, according to PA Media.

A spokesperson for the SNP said at the time that the party would not comment on a live investigation, but it “has been cooperating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so.”

The arrest of Nicola Sturgeon, the former leader of the SNP, was carried out today after police officers have searched numerous addresses for evidence of fraudulent activity, including Sturgeon’s home and the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh.

This is a breaking story. VoteWatch will update in due course.