George Galloway is under criminal investigation over allegations that he lied to the US Senate about his role in the Saddam Hussein oil-for-food bribery scandal, American prosecutors have disclosed. The controversial MP now faces the full weight of the US justice system. Scotland on Sunday can reveal that Galloway has been referred to the US Department of Justice, two federal prosecutors and to the district attorney in Manhattan, New York, over claims that he has committed perjury. The Respect MP told senators under oath in May that neither he nor anyone on his behalf had benefited from the oil-for-food regime conducted by Saddam. Last week, however, two reports - one from the US Senate, the other from the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) of the United Nations - claimed his wife and a close friend working in Iraq had received oil funds granted by Saddam for Galloway. The chairman of the Senate Committee, Norm Coleman, sent a dossier containing both his evidence and that provided by the UN to prosecutors on Friday. As perjury is a felony in America, Galloway could face trial in front of a jury, and a prison sentence of up to five years.
They have also sent their report, with the findings by the IIC, to Sir Phillip Marr, the standards commissioner for the House of Commons, and to the Charity Commission for England and Wales. The Charities Commission has stated it wants to examine the claims that illegal Iraqi oil money was laundered through a charity - the Mariam Appeal - on which Galloway was a trustee. Galloway denies the appeal was operating as a charity.