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A former British MEP who admitted fiddling £39,000 worth of expenses has been jailed for two years.
Tom Wise, 61, from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, initially denied false accounting and money laundering during the case at Southwark Crown Court
But the former MEP for the East, who was thrown out of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), later pleaded guilty.
Wise took the money between 14 December 2004 and 24 December 2005, and spent it on cars and wine.
The court heard he had spent a year channelling taxpayers' cash into a bank account he secretly controlled.
Newspaper expose
Wise, of Ship Road in Leighton Buzzard, pretended the £3,000 "secretarial assistance allowance" he received every month was for his 62-year-old researcher Lindsay Jenkins.
But after paying her just £500 each month he spent the rest "in support of his own interests", the court was told.
The court heard that when the fraud was exposed by a national newspaper four years ago the MEP "took steps to cancel the claim and repay the money".
"He did so because he had been caught and was trying to minimise the trouble he was in," the prosecution said.
Had it not been discovered, the scam could have lasted five years and netted £180,000, the jury heard.
Wise, a former policeman, previously represented UKIP before he had the party whip withdrawn in 2007 over the scandal.
are we not all equal or do we live on animal farm?
Tom Wise, 61, from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire, initially denied false accounting and money laundering during the case at Southwark Crown Court
But the former MEP for the East, who was thrown out of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), later pleaded guilty.
Wise took the money between 14 December 2004 and 24 December 2005, and spent it on cars and wine.
The court heard he had spent a year channelling taxpayers' cash into a bank account he secretly controlled.
Newspaper expose
Wise, of Ship Road in Leighton Buzzard, pretended the £3,000 "secretarial assistance allowance" he received every month was for his 62-year-old researcher Lindsay Jenkins.
But after paying her just £500 each month he spent the rest "in support of his own interests", the court was told.
The court heard that when the fraud was exposed by a national newspaper four years ago the MEP "took steps to cancel the claim and repay the money".
"He did so because he had been caught and was trying to minimise the trouble he was in," the prosecution said.
Had it not been discovered, the scam could have lasted five years and netted £180,000, the jury heard.
Wise, a former policeman, previously represented UKIP before he had the party whip withdrawn in 2007 over the scandal.
are we not all equal or do we live on animal farm?
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That fits with what I know of policemen and politicians, both using the cover of their job to deceive the public.
Another good ploy is religion as a cloak, remember Bush, Blair, Thatcher and Brown, claimintg to be religious whilst killing anywhere that takes their evil fancy!!!
Another good ploy is religion as a cloak, remember Bush, Blair, Thatcher and Brown, claimintg to be religious whilst killing anywhere that takes their evil fancy!!!
former policeman...and money laundering.....thats why he was jailed.........not a toff ...wrong school ..etc.
Simple really. Wise commited fraud and was found out. Quite right that he should be jailed. So should any fiddling MP's found guilty in a court of law of the same offence.
Smith, of course, doesn't have a case to answer since she was acting within "the rules" and has got away scot free with lashings of taxpayers money.
Smith, of course, doesn't have a case to answer since she was acting within "the rules" and has got away scot free with lashings of taxpayers money.
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