A FORMER representative of Watford in the European Parliament has been jailed for two years after admitting fiddling £36,000 in expenses.
Tom Wise, 61, from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, pleaded guilty to false accounting and money laundering.
He represented the East of England, including Hertfordshire, for the UK Independence Party (UKIP) – until he was withdrawn in May this year.
Wise, who acted as the party whip, channelled £3,000 a month, supposedly paid to an assistant, into a bank account under his name between December 2004 and December 2005.
Southwark Crown Court heard how the actual amount he was paying her was about £500. It emerged he was spending the rest on expensive wines and cars.
The 61-year-old was jailed for two years today.
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