A former Labour MP has been jailed for four years after making a string of bogus expense claims worth thousands of pounds. Jared O'Mara was convicted of six counts of fraud after trying to claim around £52,000 of taxpayer's money while working as an MP.
The claims were made for work that was never carried out and jobs that did not exist, Leeds Crown Court had been told. He wanted the money to fund an "extensive" cocaine habit, the court heard.
O’Mara, 41, who represented the constituency of Sheffield Hallam from 2017 to 2019, went on trial for submitting fake invoices to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) between June and August 2019. Leeds Crown Court heard O’Mara made four claims for a total of £19,400 from a “fictitious” organisation called Confident About Autism South Yorkshire.
