MEP's expenses
A former Tory MEP - Den Dover - has been ordered to repay £345,289 in unjustified expenses claims.
Den Dover has now been expelled by the Conservatives - and originally faced a demand for £538,000 which the European Parliament said should never have been paid to him.
The European Court of Justice has now reduced that amount after an appeal - which probably cost as much as the amount the authorities are now trying to recover.
The European Parliament launched a probe in 2008 after discovering that Mr Dover had paid nearly £1million to a company - MP Holdings - which included his wife and daughters among its directors.
The money came from allowances MEPs receive to pay staff salaries and costs - but the parliament ruled that only £421,156 could be justified - and demanded £538,290 back.
Who knows whether the former MEP will be prosecuted?
But the sums of money involved clearly dwarf those of Westminster MPs - who have already been charged and found guilty of false accounting.
Den Dover has now been expelled by the Conservatives - and originally faced a demand for £538,000 which the European Parliament said should never have been paid to him.
The European Court of Justice has now reduced that amount after an appeal - which probably cost as much as the amount the authorities are now trying to recover.
The European Parliament launched a probe in 2008 after discovering that Mr Dover had paid nearly £1million to a company - MP Holdings - which included his wife and daughters among its directors.
The money came from allowances MEPs receive to pay staff salaries and costs - but the parliament ruled that only £421,156 could be justified - and demanded £538,290 back.
Who knows whether the former MEP will be prosecuted?
But the sums of money involved clearly dwarf those of Westminster MPs - who have already been charged and found guilty of false accounting.
