LONDON – A disgraced former British MEP was jailed for almost two years yesterday for fiddling nearly £40,000 from his expenses.
Tom Wise (61) Leighton Buzzard, north London, who first represented the UK Independence Party (Ukip) before becoming an independent, spent a year channelling money into a bank account he secretly controlled.
He pretended a £3,000 “secretarial assistance allowance” he received every month was for his researcher, but paid her just £500 and kept the rest for himself, buying a car and expensive wines and paying off debts.
“It is no exaggeration to say that you had hardly got your feet beneath your desk as an MEP before you were planning to defraud the parliament to which you were elected and the people you were elected to serve,” said Judge Geoffrey Rivlin.
“You did not fall into this offence as a result of some unfortunate combination of unforeseen circumstances which happened to suddenly present you with temptation. You knew the system of expenses inside out and this was a claim you devised and planned with some care.
When the fraud was exposed by a national newspaper four years ago, Wise, who was elected East of England MEP for Ukip in June 2004, tried to repay the money, which police said amounted to £39,000.
“This offence came to an end not because your conscience got the better of you, but only because your activities were exposed by the press, after which time you terminated the claim and repaid your ill-gotten gains in the hope of avoiding prosecution,” Judge Rivlin said.
Wise continued to lie to the European parliamentary authorities after they launched an investigation and the judge said he rejected his defence that he had been confused by the expenses system.
“This fraud was so blatant, I do not believe for one moment you were disadvantaged in understanding the system or that this fraud should be seen as falling into some grey area which you might not have fully comprehended,” the judge said.
Wise had denied false accounting but changed his plea on the third day of his three-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.
He was expelled from Ukip over the scandal and did not stand for re-election in June. – (Reuters)