And yet, the investigation concerning the spending of £666,953 of independence campaign donations raised by the SNP rumbles on.
The most recent data shows the costs of the police investigation have so far amounted to £1.8 million.
That is more than three times the £666,000 of SNP donations being probed by officers.
So what has happened in those four years – and can we expect a conclusion any time soon?
Operation Branchform launched in 2021
Police Scotland launched its lengthy probe in 2021. It was investigating allegations of misusing funds raised in 2017 and 2019 for future referendum campaigning.
The first fundraiser, closed after the 2017 snap general election, saw the party raise almost half of the £1 million target. A second fundraiser in 2019 took the total donations raised to the £666,000 figure.
Questions emerged in October 2020 after the party’s published accounts revealed there was just under £97,000 in the bank at the end of 2019.
Officers outside the former first minister’s home (Image: PA) In May 2021 – months prior to Branchform’s launch – then treasurer Douglas Chapman resigned stating he had not received the financial information he needed to fulfil the role.
In June that year, Peter Murrell, then chief executive of the party and husband of Ms Sturgeon, loaned £107,620 of his own money to the SNP.
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Mr Murrell was repaid £47,620 in two instalments in August and October of 2021, Electoral Commission records showed.
These details only became public knowledge in December 2022. Mr Murrell said the loan was to “assist with cashflow” after the Holyrood election earlier that year.
Operation Branchform was launched by Police Scotland in July 2021 following complaints from an independence activist.
Nicola Sturgeon later shocked the political world when she announced her resignation as party leader and first minister in February 2023.
Ms Sturgeon had been in charge for eight years and said the job had become “very difficult” in her resignation speech.
She was clear short term pressures were not involved in her decision to resign and stated she had not been interviewed by the police.
Mr Murrell resigned as SNP chief executive a month later following a transparency row over party membership numbers.
Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell. Weeks later, in April 2023, Mr Murrell, who married Ms Sturgeon in 2010, was arrested and later released without charge pending further inquiries.
A police tent was erected outside of the couple’s home near Glasgow and the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh were searched.
Arrests made – investigation continues
A luxury campervan was later seized from Mr Murrell’s mother’s driveway in Fife.
The former first minister Ms Sturgeon and former party treasurer Colin Beattie, an MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh, were arrested. Both were released without charge but remain under investigation.
Mr Murrell, however, was charged with alleged embezzlement in April 2024.
A report was sent to the procurator fiscal – but it is yet to be revealed whether further action will be taken.
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In August, Police Scotland’s full findings of the investigation so far were presented to the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service. Later, Chief Constable Jo Farrell confirmed the force had not heard back from prosecutors, adding officers were “still awaiting direction”.
This remains the case.
What now for Nicola Sturgeon?
Throughout the police probe, Ms Sturgeon has stressed: “I am certain I have done nothing wrong.”
Ms Sturgeon has submitted an application to the SNP national executive committee which could see her confirmed as a candidate for Holyrood in 2026.
It has been widely speculated that the former first minister will step down from her Glasgow Southside MSP job.
However, she will now be vetted by SNP bosses to determine whether she is a suitable candidate – and she can also decide whether she wants to stand. A decision is expected in early spring.
As part of the party’s vetting process, Ms Sturgeon had to declare that she remained under police investigation.
In December, the former first minister said she knows “nothing more” about the police investigation than she did when she was arrested.
Ms Sturgeon said she was getting on with her life “as best as I can at the moment”.
Is a conclusion on the horizon?
Given the length of time taken on Operation Branchform so far, scrutiny into the investigation continues to mount on Police Scotland.
Campaigning for the Scottish Parliament elections will be in full swing in just a few months. However, that has led to concerns the police probe could interfere with a fair election.
SNP politicians who lost their Westminster seat in the July 2024 general election said Operation Branchform was the “elephant in the room” on the doorstep.
Tommy Sheppard, a former Edinburgh East MP, said it was “hard to fight an election” with the investigation hanging over the party’s former leader.