Four British MP face false expense charges
Friday 5th February, 2010 
Source: CNN

Four British Parliamentarians are facing charges over false expense claims totalling more than $93,000 over the past six years, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service announced.
 

Three members of the House of Commons and one member of the House of Lords are to be charged with false accounting, which could bring prison terms of up to seven years, the CPS said.
 

London's Metropolitan Police Service has been investigating the expense claims of many members of Parliament, following a spending scandal last year.
 

Facing the most charges is Paul White, also known as Lord Hanningfield. He is facing six counts of submitting claims to which he knew he was not entitled, including "numerous" claims for staying overnight in London when records show he had been driven home and did not stay in the capital, said Keir Starmer, director of public prosecutions.
 

Starmer did not say how much White claimed in the expenses, which cover a period from 2006 to 2009.
 

David Chaytor, a Member of Parliament from Bury, north of Manchester, is facing three counts, Starmer said.
 

In 2006, Chaytor allegedly claimed £1,950 ($3,065) for Information Technology services by using false invoices. Between 2005 and 2006, Chaytor allegedly claimed £12,925 ($20,321) for renting a property in London that he in fact owned; and between 2007 and 2008 he allegedly claimed £5,425 ($8,530) for renting a property in Lancashire owned by his mother.
 

Elliot Morley, a member of Parliament from the northern England city of Scunthorpe, is facing two counts of falsely claiming mortgage expenses, Starmer said.
 

Between 2004 and 2006, Morley allegedly claimed £14,428 ($22,690) for mortgage expenses "in excess of that to which he was entitled," Starmer said. Between 2006 and 2007, he allegedly claimed £16,000 ($25,166) for mortgage expenses on a property he no longer owned, Starmer said.
 

Jim Devine, a member of Parliament from the Scottish town of Livingston, near Edinburgh, is facing two charges of using false invoices in 2008 and 2009. For the first one, he allegedly claimed £3,240 ($5,094) for cleaning services; for the second, he allegedly claimed £5,505 ($8,653) for stationery, Starmer said.
 

The expenses in question total £59,473, or $93,495.
 

Lawyers for all four of the lawmakers asked whether they should be exempt from prosecution because of parliamentary privilege, Starmer said, but he said that is for the court to determine.
 

The four defendants are scheduled to appear in court March 11.