By Martin Banks - 22nd April 2009
I am determined to clear my name
Tom Wise
British MEP Tom Wise has said he is determined to clear his name after it was revealed he has been charged with false accounting and money laundering.
Tom Wise, 60, a former UK Independence Party (UKIP) MEP who now sits as an independent, was investigated by UK police after claims made about his conduct in the British newspaper, the Sunday Telegraph.
His former researcher, Lindsay Jenkins, faces the same charges, which relate to the expenses received by MEPs.
"Following the publication of a news article in October 2005 relating to Mr Wise and Ms Jenkins, the European anti-fraud office (OLAF) began an investigation into Mr Wise's use of allowances," said a UK Crown Prosecution Service statement.
OLAF had passed the investigation to an economic crime unit with the British police and the evidence had been "carefully examined", said the CPS.
He is alleged to have pretended that his own bank account was actually that of Jenkins, against EU rules. The maximum sentence for false accounting is seven years. For money laundering it is 14 years.
Speaking to this website on Wednesday, Wise said he has been ordered to appear before Horseferry Road magistrates court in London next Monday.
He said he would "rigorously" contest the charges, adding, "I am determined to clear my name."
Wise, an MEP since 2004, said it had been his intention to seek re-election in June's European elections but that he had now decided not to stand.
"I want to stress that this decision has nothing to do with the police inquiry," he said. "I have simply decided that my efforts to get the UK out of the EU are not best served by me continuing as an MEP."
"In the meantime, I am getting on with my work and attending the Strasbourg plenary this week as normal. Life goes on."
His lawyer, Stephen Welfare, said Wise denied any intent to deceive or any unlawful wrongdoing, adding, "He repaid to the EU all excess money received but not accounted for."
Wise, who spent five years as a police constable in the UK until 1970 before becoming a sales representative, also questioned the motives of the prosecuting authorities, saying, "You have to ask why they seem to be targeting me in particular."
A UKIP spokesman said he was suspended in 2007 after the party learned he was under investigation.
"He is no longer in UKIP," said the spokesman.
It is the second time that a former UKIP MEP has faced criminal charges during the current term. Ashley Mote, 73, and now an independent, was found guilty of falsely claiming benefits of over €60,000 and given a nine-month sentence in 2007.
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