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MEP 'facing prison' in fraud case MEP is jailed for benefit fraud
(about 5 hours later)
An MEP for South East England convicted of 21 charges of benefit fraud is to be sentenced later. An MEP for South East England has been jailed for nine months for falsely claiming benefits of more than £65,000.
A judge at Portsmouth Crown Court warned Ashley Mote, 71, that he faced a custodial sentence. Former UKIP MEP Ashley Mote, 71, was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court after being found guilty of 21 offences following a four-week trial.
A four-week trial which ended on 17 August heard that Mote ran a successful business which collapsed in 1992. Mote will retain his seat in Europe because he would only have been disqualified if he had received a term of imprisonment of more than 12 months.
The former UKIP MEP began claiming income support and benefits but failed to notify the benefits agency when he began earning money again in 1996. The father-of-two sat as an independent MEP after being thrown out of UKIP.
Income support
The court heard Mote had run a successful business which collapsed in 1992.
He had begun claiming income support and benefits but failed to notify the benefits agency when he began earning money again in 1996.
The court heard that between February 1996 and September 2002 he received £73,000 in benefits.The court heard that between February 1996 and September 2002 he received £73,000 in benefits.
Mote was thrown out of UKIP after the party found out about the charges. He then sat as an independent MEP. Mote was thrown out of UKIP after the party found out about the charges.
The court found him guilty of eight charges of false accounting, eight of obtaining a money transfer by deception, four of evading liability and one of failing to notify a change of circumstances.The court found him guilty of eight charges of false accounting, eight of obtaining a money transfer by deception, four of evading liability and one of failing to notify a change of circumstances.
He was acquitted of a further four charges in the case brought by the Department for Work and Pensions.He was acquitted of a further four charges in the case brought by the Department for Work and Pensions.