LONDON, (Reuters) – A former British lawmaker was jailed for 18 months yesterday for falsifying his expenses, the first parliamentarian to be convicted over a 2009 scandal that engulfed the nation’s political system.
Hundreds of MPs were ordered to repay a total of more than 1 million pounds ($1.55 million) in the wake of the expenses scandal which caused widespread anger and an overhaul of the system.
Newspaper revelations showed MPs had made claims for items ranging from toilet paper to dog food, moat cleaning and ornamental duck houses, tainting members of all major parties.
David Chaytor, 61, who had been a member of parliament (MP) in northern England, admitted at an earlier hearing to fraudulently claiming more than 20,000 pounds in taxpayer-funded expenses.
