Labour's former Europe minister pleaded guilty to false accounting after filing 19 fake receipts totalling nearly £13,000
The former Labour minister Denis MacShane has been jailed for six months after admitting making bogus expenses claims amounting to nearly £13,000.
He pleaded guilty last month to false accounting by filing 19 fake receipts for "research and translation" services. He used the money to fund a series of trips to Europe, including one to judge a literary competition in Paris.
MacShane's guilty plea followed more than four years of scrutiny of his use of Commons allowances. Parliamentary authorities began looking at his claims in 2009 when the wider expenses scandal engulfed Westminster, and within months they referred him to Scotland Yard.
But the principle of parliamentary privilege meant detectives were not given access to damning correspondence with the standards commissioner in which MacShane detailed how signatures on receipts from the European Policy Institute (EPI) had been faked.
The body was controlled by MacShane and the general manager's signature was not genuine. One missive dated October 2009 told how he drew funds from the EPI so he could serve on a book-judging panel in Paris.
It was not until after police dropped the case last year that the cross-party standards committee published the evidence in a report that recommended an unprecedented 12-month suspension from the Commons.
MacShane, 65, who served as Europe minister under Tony Blair, resigned as MP for Rotherham last November before the punishment could be imposed. Police then reopened their inquiry in the light of the fresh information and he was charged in May, even though the letters are still not thought to be admissible in court.
The offence of false accounting covered 19 "knowingly misleading" receipts that MacShane filed between January 2005 and January 2008. Reported by guardian.co.uk 10 hours ago.
The former Labour minister Denis MacShane has been jailed for six months after admitting making bogus expenses claims amounting to nearly £13,000.
He pleaded guilty last month to false accounting by filing 19 fake receipts for "research and translation" services. He used the money to fund a series of trips to Europe, including one to judge a literary competition in Paris.
MacShane's guilty plea followed more than four years of scrutiny of his use of Commons allowances. Parliamentary authorities began looking at his claims in 2009 when the wider expenses scandal engulfed Westminster, and within months they referred him to Scotland Yard.
But the principle of parliamentary privilege meant detectives were not given access to damning correspondence with the standards commissioner in which MacShane detailed how signatures on receipts from the European Policy Institute (EPI) had been faked.
The body was controlled by MacShane and the general manager's signature was not genuine. One missive dated October 2009 told how he drew funds from the EPI so he could serve on a book-judging panel in Paris.
It was not until after police dropped the case last year that the cross-party standards committee published the evidence in a report that recommended an unprecedented 12-month suspension from the Commons.
MacShane, 65, who served as Europe minister under Tony Blair, resigned as MP for Rotherham last November before the punishment could be imposed. Police then reopened their inquiry in the light of the fresh information and he was charged in May, even though the letters are still not thought to be admissible in court.
The offence of false accounting covered 19 "knowingly misleading" receipts that MacShane filed between January 2005 and January 2008. Reported by guardian.co.uk 10 hours ago.