Kent Police: Jailed ex-MEP 'badly let down' those who had who supported and trusted him

Kent Police have given their response to the sentencing of the former South East MEP Peter Skinner for expenses fraud at Southwark Crown Court today. The ex-MEP from Snodland in Kent was jailed for four years.

The court heard how officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate launched an investigation into Skinner’s activities in December 2010 after becoming aware of a potentially fraudulent document relating to consultancy work that Skinner claimed had been provided by his father.

Kent Police said that it was later established that the document, which authorised payments of £5,000 to his father’s business every three months, contained fake signatures.

Investigators carried out further audits of Skinner’s personal and office accounts and found numerous examples of the politician spending money that had been intended for staff on himself and others.

Kent Police gave examples such as the former MEP buying a Land Rover Discovery for his ex-wife and paying monthly maintenance payments as part of his divorce settlement. There was also evidence that he used the money to pay for his honeymoon to the United States and Hawaii following his second marriage.

The Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Adrian Brown said that Skinner had betrayed his supporters:

The MEP was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court today having previously been found guilty of one count of fraud, one count of false accounting and one count of making a false instrument.

The MEP had claimed about £480,000 of expenses during his time in office. An investigation found that more than £100,000 of it had been diverted for his personal use. The Prosecutor Jonathan Davies told the court the total lost to the European Parliament was £132,434.02, and the judge agreed that it was "in excess of £100,000".