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Ex-Ukip MEP guilty of huge fraud – Fraud Seems Endemic In Ukip over the years and even present MEPs embroilled in fraud and corruption.
Ex-Ukip MEP guilty of huge fraud
Published: 00:20, 13 July 2015 | Updated: 00:20, 13 July 2015
A former Ukip MEP has been found guilty of fraudulently claiming almost £500,000 in European Parliament expenses.
A jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court took an hour and 42 minutes to find Ashley Mote, 79, guilty of 12 fraud-related offences and of using the gains to fund his court battles in the UK.
Mote, of Binsted, Hampshire, was found guilty of four counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception, three of false accounting, two of fraud, and one each of acquiring criminal property, concealing criminal property and theft.
Ashley Mote was guilty of committing a string of fraud-related offences and using the gains to fund his court battles in the UK
The offences took place between November 2004 and July 2010.
Releasing Mote on conditional bail, Mr Justice Stuart Smith said: “He must appreciate that there is a very strong likelihood that a custodial sentence will follow.”
The judge said he was not concerned about the “relatively short time” it took the jury to reach its decisions.
He said: “I have watched you over the four weeks (of the trial) and you have been giving this close attention.”
A date for sentencing has yet to be set.
The prosecution claimed that Mote submitted numerous false claims for parliamentary assistance allowance for payment for work that organisations had carried out on his behalf.
The prosecution also claimed that he dishonestly obtained approximately 355,000 euros and £184,000 of allowances to which he was not entitled.
Between 2004, when he was elected MEP, and 2009, Mote claimed a total of £750,000 in parliamentary assistance allowance – taking into account his legitimate claims and any alleged fraudulent activity.
Mote was elected as a Ukip MEP for south east England in 2004, but shortly before he took up his seat he was thrown out of Nigel Farage’s party because he was being prosecuted by the Department for Work and Pensions for benefit fraud.
He sat as an independent MEP until 2009, when he decided not to stand for re-election.
To view the original article CLICK HERE
The case would seem to have hinged on the fact that under some circumstances MEPs may utilise tax payers’ money to defend or prosecute cases related to offences commited whilst in office.
Ashley Mote was prosecuted and found guilty of benefit fraud commited prior to his election to office.
I believe Ashley mote acted on the presumption that either no case would have been called had he not been elected as a Ukip MEP, or that he was entitled to the legal defence because he was an MEP. In the belief that he would win he may have considered it only as a loan undrawn down as the Crown would be liable for costs.
There is I understand precedent for this as I gather Gerard Batten used Tax payers’ money to fund legal matters.
Having been removed from Ukip Ashley Mote was denied access to advice on the matter from the party and would seem to have dug himself an ever deeper hole with his costly appeals and lengthy Court cases. There is no doubt he is guilty of these new offences it would seem though there is a ‘rationalle’ for claiming his earlier prosecution was brought about by his political stance and position.
The claims against Nikki Sinclaire would seem to be entirely different and are seemingly without sound foundation as they would apppear to have been triggered by the self serving ambitions of John Ison and contrived evidence and claims. Were there any validity to the claims it is clear that Nikki Sinclaire was in no way the guilty party as all the claims against her were firstly technical misunderstandings and secondly during the period when, to avoid any such errors, every Ukip MEP surrendered control of their accounts, expenses and salary claims to Nigel Farage’s appointed accountant – thus Nigel Farage is directly responsible for any such errors as claimed!
There is absolutely no claim made against Nikki Sinclaire brought by the Police or CPS subsequent to her having left Ukip and it is an auditted fact that she paid from her own personal income and savings into her campaigning against EU membership and other constituency duties at least 4 or 5 times the amount she is claimed to have falsely drawn whilst Ukip controlled her accounts.
The Ashley Mote case has more in common with that of Tom Wise, who was sentenced to 2 years in prison, though he only served a few months! Tom Wise had embezzelled money from the EU, aided by the signatures of Lindsay Jenkins as you will recal from the facts provided on this blog at the time. Interestimngly at no time was Tom Wise either suspended from or thrown out of Ukip and was allowed to serve his full term as an MEP a Ukip member.
Tom Wise was vigerously defended and his criminal activity was strenuously denied by Ukip senior officials, dishonest individuals such as Douglas Denny, Mick McGough, Mike Nattrass, Mark Croucher, Anthony Butcher and many naiive members, also the duplicitous Roger Helmer who you may well recal was also featured in the video sting carried out by TNOTW!
The dishonest claiming of expenses and false accounting of Ukip senior officials is clearly endemic starting at the top with the then leader Jeffrey Tittford having been ordered to repay EU money he had falsely claimed and used, followed by Nigel Farage in similar circumstances not to mention setting up off shore accounts to benefit from tax breaks with an Isle of Man account to which he deposited 100s of £1,000, or the misappropriation of 10s of £1,000s of pounds by Derek Clark who though he was never prosecuted, unlike Tom Wise, he was ordered to repay to the EU.
Then of course the leader Malcolm Lord Pearson besides being exposed as an unashamed anti Islamic racist was shown on film by The Sunday Times as having colluded with Nigel Farage to lainder money from donors via his company Global Britain at the same time that he was colluding with Stuart Agnew in seeking to obfuscate donations! Stuart Agnew also made it clear that he and David Bannerman were fiddling their expenses to pay the salaries of inappropriate staff!
There is also the matter of Ukip’s abject failure to responsibly, honestly or transparently present accounts for the Ashford scam, described by Nigel Farage as the most profitable organisation Ukip had ever had to make money! There was also the matter of laundering credit card payments through Graham Booth’s motel in Torquay and let us not forget that when OLAF investigated Graham Booth they ordered repayment of other funds claimed and failed to exhonourate Mike Nattrass subsequent to their investigation of his activities. Though Derek Clark was found guilty by OLAF and we understand his file was passed to the British Police who it seems took no action, as with Stuart Agnew, Malcolm Pearson, David Bannerman and no doubt others!
One wonders why, with so much sound evidence, the police have taken no action against these individuals yet have seemingly trumped up a case against Nikki Sinclaire based upon the most febrile of claims, which are easily dismissed and over such a small amount of money, when 100s of £1,000s of claims against Ukip have been ignored!
Then of course there is Ukip’s blatant dishonesty and disregard for British Courts and the undeniable fact that they are indebted to me for some £13,500 and interest over some half a dozen years which they have failed to pay, and the fact that Nigel Farage’s grubby little sewer rat Mark Croucher flagrantly ignores his debts as ordered by the Courts.
Some may remember the dubious funding of Mark Croucher’s two pubs, which he claimed were funded by Ukip/Nigel Farage as ‘hush money’ – naturally with Mark Croucher running them both failed, though he tried to blame everything but his own incompetence and lack of ability!
I understand Ukip finances are currently under legal scrutiny, particularly as to the recent General Election and it is a well publicised fact that Ukip are currently on the verge of bankruptcy and as yet it is unclear whether they paid their due election debts on the 05-Jul-2015 as legally required!
Then of course worthy of note is that Nigel Farage has been questioned regarding the allegations made by Annabelle Fuller when she stole Andrew Bridgen’s Blackberry, House of Commons Pass & confidential correspondence the file related to her criminality has been passed to the CPS and it is a matter of speculation to what extent Nigel Farage is implicated by his phone calls with her when she was involved in the crime!
Also we are still awaiting an outcome of the investigation of Janice Atkinson’s fraud whilst working for Farage when she claimed money for an event organised for Nigel Farage’s EFDD.
etc. etc. etc.
Former Ukip MEP jailed over £500k expenses fraud
Ashley Mote is handed five years at Southwark Crown Court after claiming almost £500,000 in fraudulent European Parliament expenses
Ashley Mote arrives at Southwark Crown court for sentencing Photo: Rex
By Agency
11:41AM BST 13 Jul 2015
A former Ukip MEP who cheated almost £500,000 in European Parliament expenses has been jailed for five years.
Ashley Mote, 79, submitted bogus claims for his parliamentary allowance, which was supposed to be for work that organisations had carried out on his behalf.
Former UKIP MEP Ashley Mote (left) arrives at Southwark Crown Court (PA)He used the money to fund his court battles in the UK after he was prosecuted for a previous benefits fraud.
The politician dishonestly obtained approximately 355,000 euro and £184,000 of allowances to which he was not entitled.
Mote, of Binsted, Hampshire, was sentenced to a total of five years imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court today.
• Nigel Farage to sack Patrick O’Flynn in purge of Ukip coup plotters
Mr Justice Stuart Smith said Mote had “lied, protested, lied and lied again” during his trial.
“Your greed and dishonesty were matched only by your hypocrisy because while this was going on you carried out a high profile campaign condemning corruption and the improper use of public money in the very institution from which you were leeching it.”
He continued: “You knew perfectly well what the rules were for the claiming of expenses and you also knew perfectly well that what you were doing had nothing to do with funding whistleblowers and everything to do with funding your bridging loan, your mortgage, your legal expenses that were unrelated to your role as an MEP.
“You abused your position of trust as an elected representative and you abused the trust that the European Parliament placed in you, consistently making false statements in the knowledge that the institutions trusted their MEPs to be reliable and honest.
Ashley Mote at an earlier court appearance in April (Julian Simmonds/The Telegraph)“Along the way you deceived people who shared your declared political ideals and even considered you to be something of a political hero.
“You are, as was said by the trial judge when you were convicted of substantial benefits fraud in 2007, a thoroughly dishonest man.
“The consistency of your dishonesty is breathtaking.”
Mr Justice Smith said: “As you came to towards the end of your time as an MEP you decided to milk what you saw as your cash cow to the limit.”
Mote was convicted at trial of four counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception, three of false accounting, two of fraud, and one each of acquiring criminal property, concealing criminal property and theft. The offences took place between November 2004 and July 2010.
Mote was allowed to sit in the back of court because of hearing problems.
To view the original article CLICK HERE
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