Saturday, 6th February 2010

SCOTTISH MP Jim Devine has admitted submitting false receipts for a stationery claim of £5,500 that will see him brought before a court on criminal charges. He stands accused of using fake invoices to claim £3,240 for cleaning services in his second home between July 2008 and April 2009, as well as £5,500 for office stationery claimed last March.

But last night, in an interview with Channel 4 News, he accepted the receipts he submitted for stationery were bogus and that the money was intended to help pay for staffing costs.

He denied that he profited directly from any of the claims. "The false receipt would be if the £5,500 was going into my pocket," he said. "It was about moving money about in my accounts. In my innocence, I was told that was acceptable."

He insisted this type of accounting was normal practice in the union movement, and said: "The stationery was for paying for leaflets and moving money from one account to another. We had run out of money in the staffing account and had a lot of money in the communications account.

Click here for full article

"Normal practice in the union movement" So that's where he learnt these bad habits

Back to Articles