Former MP Faces Charges Over Her Expenses

Former Labour MP Margaret Moran has been charged over fraudulent claims she made for parliamentary expenses.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said the ex-Luton South MP faces 21 charges, including 15 of false accounting.

He alleged that Ms Moran, who was forced to resign following the allegations in May 2009, fiddled her expenses by more than £60,000 over a four-year period.

She also "flipped" her designated second home, making claims for properties in London, Luton and Southampton through a scheme intended for the maintenance of second homes or offices between November 2004 and August 2008.

About £23,000 was reportedly claimed for treating dry rot at her home in Southampton, 100 miles from her constituency.

The charges come more than two years after the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Met Police Commissioner set up a panel to investigate revelations surrounding illegal claims by MPs.

Ms Moran is the last of 10 MPs to be investigated by the panel with six others having already faced charges and jail terms.

The inquiry into her expense claims has taken the longest after it was suspended last year because she said she was too ill to cooperate.

The first MP jailed over the expenses scandal was David Chaytor, who spent a quarter of his 18-month sentence in prison before being released earlier this year.

Eric Illsley, Elliot Morley and Jim Devine have all also received prison sentences over the expenses row. All were jailed earlier this year and have since been released.

Peers Lord Taylor of Warwick and Lord Hanningfield were also put behind bars.

Mr Starmer said: "Having thorougly reviewed the evidence gathered by police, we have decided there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to bring criminal charges against Margaret Moran.

"The summons relates to 15 charges of false accounting. Ms Moran also faces six charges of forgery... where it is alleged that she submitted forged invoices in support of some of her claims."

Ms Moran will appear at City of Westminster Magistrates Court on September 19.