Met embroiled in £2m expenses storm
Police body caught up in damaging credit card scandal years after internal auditors red-flagged flaws in the claims regime
A £2m expenses row has been sparked at Scotland Yard following the arrest of
two senior police officers last night.
The pair were taken into custody last week in connection with an alleged
expenses scam totalling millions of pounds. Senior Metropolitan Police officers
carrying out royal protection duty and other high-profile work, were issued
American Express credit cards to cover work- related costs, but may have taken
advantage of the situation.
A spokesman for the
Metropolitan Police
Authority told The Guardian: ‘Auditors looking at use of corporate credit
cards discovered there was loose processes or sloppy management in some areas.
In some cases it did not appear there were proper controls over the way the
cards were being used.’
Despite concerns being expressed by the force’s internal auditors in 2004,
£2m of expenses remain unaccounted for. The delay has been caused because of
claims still rolling in from continuing police operations, generating a log jam
of expenses.
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