Insolvency specialist appointed to handle Alex Salmond’s ‘effective bankruptcy’

An insolvency specialist has been appointed to handle former first minister Alex Salmond’s ‘effective bankruptcy’.

It was confirmed on Friday that Kenny Craig, a chartered accountant and insolvency practitioner at Begbies Traynor, has been named as trustee in sequestration – the Scottish legal equivalent of bankruptcy – for Salmond’s estate.

Thomas McKay, managing partner for the firm, called it an “unusual and complex appointment”, particularly because it involves ongoing legal proceedings by a high-profile individual against the Scottish Government.

It comes after an application was made to the Accountant in Bankruptcy insolvency service by Salmond’s widow, Moira.

The application states that Salmond’s estate has a £344,347 level of debt against £2,282 worth of assets.

“Kenny Craig, supported by our personal insolvency team at Begbies Traynor Group, will, of course, do all that he can to manage the sequestration as respectfully and sensitively as possible,” Mr McKay said.

The winding up of the former first minister’s estate will include the trustee considering the value of all assets, including rights of action against the Scottish Government.

Salmond died in October 2024 in North Macedonia after suffering a heart attack while attending a conference.

Prior to his death, Salmond had successfully sued the Scottish Government, winning £512,000, after it was found that the process in handling two harassment complaints against him by civil servants was “tainted with apparent bias”.

He was later acquitted of a raft of sexual misconduct charges at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Salmond had raised proceedings seeking damages against the Scottish Government at the time of his death, and those proceedings are ongoing.

It emerged last week that the former first minister’s estate was forced to seek the equivalent of bankruptcy over the costs of court action taken during the former first minister’s later life.

Salmond’s former lawyers at Levy and McRae are acting for his wife in winding up his estate.

David McKie, senior partner of Levy & McRae, said the step of appointing a Trustee in Sequestration is a “very unfortunate one, but is also necessary” to protect Moira’s interests and those of creditors.

“We were instructed by Alex Salmond throughout the years of his successful cases in the High Court and Court of Session,” Mr McKie said.

“It was a matter of great satisfaction for him, and for Moira, that he was successful in exposing the unlawful conduct of the Scottish Government and then clearing his name over criminal allegations in the highest courts in Scotland.

“But that success came at a huge cost – both in terms of the strain imposed on him personally and in terms of the financial pressure which funding that process of vindication imposed.”

Mr McKie added that it is a “matter of profound regret” that Salmond had to invest so much time and money in clearing his name.

“But most people will understand that faced with such attacks and an unlawful process brought against him, there was no choice for Alex but to defend himself with every resource available to him,” Mr McKie said.

“This matter will now rightly be passed to the Accountant in Bankruptcy and, if appointed, the new Trustees in Sequestration.”