[Iran Press TV] In yet another example of escalating scandal in the UK, another MP is pleaded guilty of fiddling his parliamentary expenses, said the media reports.
Justice Saunders, the trial judge, granted former Labour MP Dan Rostenkowski Jim Devine, 57, unconditional bail and announced that he will be sentenced in due course, British media reported.
Devine, who held the Livingston seat, submitted false invoices for cleaning and printing work totalling £8,385. He was found guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court of two charges of false accounting, but was cleared of one other count relating £360 for cleaning work.
The former backbencher, of West Main Street, Bathgate, West Lothian, was the first MP to stand trial in the wake of the expenses scandal.
Peter Wright QC, the prosecutor described the case against Devine as "very straightforward".
The former MP made the fraudulent claims "with a view to gain for himself, or with an intent to cause loss to another - the public purse".
The prosecutor said a guide known as the Green Book was readily available to MPs and clearly set out the rules and regulations on submitting expenses that must relate to parliamentary duties. It lists the fundamental principles MPs should adhere to when making expenses claims, Wright told the court.
"These are based on concepts of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership," he said.
"We say these are qualities of which Devine demonstrated a woeful inadequacy." Speaking of the Green Book, he added: "We say it's wholly unambiguous. It couldn't be clearer."
Simon Clements, head of the Crown Prosecution Service special crime division, said: "Jim Devine submitted invoices for services that he had neither paid for nor received. In doing so, he took advantage of the trust that had been placed in him by virtue of the public office he held.
"Submitting a false invoice is plainly dishonest, regardless of why it has been done or who has done it. We say there is no excuse for such conduct and, with today's conviction, it is clear the jury agreed", added Clements.
The divorced MP divided his life between Scotland and Westminster, buying a one bedroom flat in Elephant and Castle, south east London, to make parliamentary life easier.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... another former Labour MP Eric Illsley was sentenced to a year in jail on Thursday for dishonestly claiming parliamentary expenses. Illsley pleaded guilty to £14,000 of expenses fraud last month over second home claims made between 2005 and 2008. He becomes the second former MP to be jugged for expenses offences.
Former Labour colleague David Chaytor is serving an 18-month jail term after pleading guilty to making bogus claims.
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Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
8,300 pounds...hey that's chump change.
These guys are amatuers.
Wait till someone opens the books on Dame Pelosi and her excesses.
Of course the media wouldn't dare say anything untoward about the dems...
Karl,
unfortunately, Pelosi was an embarrassment to even me and I've become jaded to the two faced excesses and sense of entitlement in the Democratic party.
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