Fraud allegation against MP over claim for expenses
BRECON and Radnorshire Conservative MP Chris Davies could face questions from the police following an “allegation of fraudulent expense claims”.
The MP, who is an aide at the Wales Office, said he made a “genuine mistake” in how he submitted a claim for photographs which hang in his constituency office and that the only person who is now out of pocket is himself.
Mr Davies, who says he wants his “name cleared”, said an “administration error” took place and he has paid back £450.
The Conservative party received a complaint in March which was then passed to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa). This body then referred the matter to the Metropolitan Police.
Mr Davies said the information has been in the public domain for two years and that he had not known he had “done anything wrong”.
Mr Davies said he paid a photographer £700 for images. He submitted a claim of £450 to be taken from the budget allocated for new MPs to open offices, which he had not used up. He intended to claim the remaining £250 from his separate office costs budget, but never did this.
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said: “The compliance officer for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) made a referral to the MPS on Wednesday, April 4, in relation to an allegation of fraudulent expense claims submitted by an individual. The matter is currently subject to an assessment by officers from the Met’s Special Enquiry Team.”
A spokesman for Ipsa said: “Ipsa was made aware of this issue at the end of March 2018 and we have taken appropriate action, including the recovery of funds.”