June 2009 Archives

The Observer reports the apparently deepening scandal regarding abuse and fraud, by serving Metropolitan Police counter -terrorism and serious crime officers, of their corporate Amex credit cards.

It was bad enough when half a dozen of them were arrested, but it seems that the lax financial auditing and encouraged a "canteen culture" of expenses fiddling "within the rules" and some and outright theft from the taxpayer, just like with MPs expenses.

Card fraud probe targets 300 detectives

Scotland Yard officers are suspected of defrauding taxpayers of millions

* Rajeev Syal, investigations editor
* The Observer, Sunday 14 June 2009

More than 300 elite Scotland Yard detectives are suspected of defrauding the taxpayer of millions of pounds by abusing their corporate credit cards, the Observer can disclose.

300 detectives ???

Auditors who have examined the American Express accounts of 3,500 officers involved in countering terrorism and organised crime have reported almost one in 11 detectives to the Metropolitan Police's internal investigators.

A senior officer appears to have spent £40,000 on his Amex card in one year, without authorisation. Items bought by others without permission include suits, women's clothing and fishing rods.

The scale of the suspected fraud, disclosed in an internal Metropolitan Police Authority report, will send shock waves through the force. Until now, the investigation into expenses fraud was thought to have focused on fewer than 40 officers. It comes days after Sir Paul Stephenson, the Met Commissioner, faced the potentially damaging disclosure that six officers face investigation over claims that a drug suspect's head was forced into a lavatory that was flushed repeatedly.

[...]

Auditors at the Metropolitan Police Authority have spent two years examining receipts from the accounts of more than 3,500 officers. The Amex cards were issued in 2006 to detectives from specialist operations, which includes counter-terrorism and those involved in diplomatic and royalty protection.

The scheme was then extended to the specialist crime directorate, which counters organised crime, as well as conducting sensitive inquiries such as the cash-for-honours investigation.

The cards were for travel and subsistence, so that officers did not have to spend their own money while on long-running investigations away from their Scotland Yard base.

Sources have told the Observer that some detectives had fallen into the habit of withdrawing hundreds of pounds at a time from cashpoints. Other officers appear to have filled in blank receipts from restaurants to account for cash payments.

One source said: "Some people bought three-piece suits while in the far east and claimed that they needed them for work. But it would not have taken much nous to realise that it was 45C in the shade, and not the weather for a waistcoat."

The number of suspected fraudsters will be presented to the Met at a meeting tomorrow.

A report by Peter Tickner, the head of internal audit at the Metropolitan Police Authority, states that it has finished examining the Amex accounts of all officers. "In excess of 300 police officers have been referred to the Directorate of Professional Standards [DPS] by my staff and 46 of these have become formal investigations overseen by the Independent Police Complaints Commission," he wrote.

Only detectives suspected of overcharging by more than £1,000 have been referred to the DPS. Its investigators are believed to be examining hundreds of files.

Ordinary members of the public would have been fired and / or prosecuted for far less of a fiddle than £1000 !

The use of Amex cards was halted in December 2007. A number of officers have already been arrested in connection with the investigation.

So the corporate Amex cards were issued in 2006, and withdrawn at the end of 2007- what disgraceful mismanagement by Sir Ian Blair and his senior managers, including Sir Paul Stephenson !

Will nobody at Scotland Yard have the honour to take responsibility for this scandal and resign ?

Will Mayor of London Boris Johnson act decisively to restore public confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service

Hopefully as many people in London as possible will take the opportunity to send a message of disapproval to the disastrous Labour Government via today's European Parliament election.

See the European Parliament Election - official lists of candidates for the London region

We have converted this (.pdf) table into a more easily searchable web page:

List of London candidates including Home Addresses, for the election of 8 Members of European Parliament, Thursday 4th June 2009

Some political campaigners have already been complaining that the lengthy Ballot Paper has been "razor folded" deliberately, supposedly to try to make it harder for certain parties to be noticed.

Presumably they are relying on illiterate voters with a short attention span, using some sort of random "lucky dip" approach to voting, who will somehow not bother to examine and read the whole of the Ballot Paper.

BBC: UK votes in MEP and council polls

There were mixed reports of turnout and the Electoral Commission was forced to issue an alert asking polling station staff not to fold ballot papers.

This followed complaints parties listed lower on the alphabetical ballot papers were hidden when first unfolded.

[...]

The spokesman, who explained that ballot papers were folded to help protect voter secrecy, said they were also urging people to read the instructions on ballot papers carefully.

Pick your party list or independent candidates before you enter the polling station !

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