LONDON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- A British peer claimed expenses for travel to London from a home in Oxford he falsely listed as his main residence, though he never lived there, a jury heard.
Tory Lord John Taylor is on trial for allegedly claiming more than $17,000 worth of travel expenses illegally after falsely listing as his primary residence a home in Oxford that was occupied by a distant relative while Taylor was actually living in London, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.
Prosecutor Helen Law told Southwark Crown Court the Oxford address was where Taylor's half-nephew lived and Taylor never stayed at that home and had no legal or financial interest in it.
Taylor, 58, has pleaded not guilty to six counts of false accounting under the 1968 Theft Act for claims charged between 2006 and 2007.
Taylor claimed traveling expenses between Oxford and London and essentially a per diem for staying overnight in London, Law told the court.
"These concern claims he made as a member of the House of Lords under the members' reimbursement allowance scheme, under which members claim expenses incurred in their parliamentary duties," Law said. "The only real issue in this case is Lord Taylor's state of mind when he submitted these forms.
"We say he must have known the forms were false, deceptive and misleading. He must have known that to do so was dishonest and that he would get money in return for submitting the forms."
