Scandal-hit Met chief ’s retirement: An Alpine apartment and a £6m pension pot
THE controversial former head of Scotland Yard was yesterday forced to reveal details of his Alpine holiday home and lucrative new advisory roles.
Crossbench peer Lord Hogan-Howe – who has yet to vote or speak in the House of Lords – enjoys an apartment in an upmarket region of Switzerland popular with wealthy expats.
He has also taken on two paid roles less than a year after collecting his £5.8 million pension pot. He is a ‘consultant on risk management’ with Towergate Insurance and is advising HSBC on ‘financial crime risk reduction’.
The details will enrage critics of the former top officer, whose tenure was marred by controversies including the failed VIP sex abuse inquiry.
Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, who is suing the Met after being falsely accused of child sex abuse, branded Lord Hogan- Howe’s rewards as ‘extraordinary’.
And one ex-colleague said the roles ‘could be awkward’, adding: ‘ Despite everything, it seems he is determined to remain in the public eye.’
Lord Hogan-Howe, 60, was ordered to declare details of his income, properties and commitments after accepting a peerage. Yesterday, the Parliamentary website revealed the keen skier and horse rider owns a holiday apartment in the southern Valais region.
Valais is home to some of the world’s most exclusive ski resorts, including Verbier and Crans-Montana. It appeals to visitors all year round, with hikers and mountain bikers enjoying the slopes once the snow has gone.
The peer also took on paid roles with Towergate Insurance and banking giant HSBC. Last year Lord Hogan-Howe was criticised for saying victims of fraud should no longer be reimbursed by their banks.
Towergate issued an apology last July after the Financial Conduct Authority imposed a fine in relation to a former director’s mishandling of an estimated £12 million. The company came close to collapse two years ago and was last year fined £2.6 million for mishandling client funds.
Lord Hogan-Howe left his £270,000 Met post in February. Experts calculate that his goldplated taxpayer-funded final salary pension pot was worth at least £5.8million. His pension will depend on any lump sum he withdrew on retirement.
Lord Hogan-Howe was widely criticised for presiding over the disastrous £ 2.5 million inquiry into a fictitious VIP paedophile ring. He was also the driving force behind the Yard’s bungled £20 million Operation Elveden inquiry into alleged payments to public officials by journalists.
Mr Proctor, who was wrongly accused of rape and murder by a fantasist known only as ‘Nick’, said: ‘It is extraordinary that someone who got so many things wrong in his professional life is rewarded in this way ... to
‘Never apologised publicly’
have a peerage and then jobs here, there and everywhere ... when he has never put my position right and apologised publicly.’
Earlier this week war hero Field Marshal Lord Bramall, 93, who has been paid £100,000 compensation after also being investigated over false child-sex claims, criticised Lord Hogan-Howe.
He said: ‘They say they might prosecute “Nick”, but the ones who should be prosecuted are the police who led the inquiry.’
Lord Hogan-Howe shows no sign of fading from public life.
He appeared on BBC Question Time last month, spoke at Oxford University and undertook a paid speaking appointment for the Business Continuity Institute.
He was seen by some as a potential outside candidate to head the Irish Garda, with a flurry of bets made on him taking the role in September.
The peer remains under investigation by the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime over comments he made during the VIP sex ring scandal.
He is accused of misrepresenting the origins of the phrase ‘credible and true’, used by the senior investigating officer about the most outlandish allegations.
Lord Hogan-Howe could not be reached for comment.