A former MP has been found guilty of submitting a series of fraudulent expense claims.
Jared O’Mara, 41, who represented Sheffield Hallam between 2017 and 2019, was convicted of six charges of fraud at Leeds Crown Court today.
Co-defendant Gareth Arnold, 30, was found guilty of three counts of fraud.
The CPS showed the jury evidence that O’Mara invented an autism charity and falsely billed for work said to have been carried out.
In 2019, the former MP submitted a series of dishonest claims to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) – the organisation that regulates the staffing and business costs of MPs.
Four claims, totalling 19,400, came from the fictitious organisation Confident About Autism South Yorkshire.
None of the claims were ever paid to O’Mara by IPSA.
Arnold, who was said to be working as O’Mara’s chief of staff, also assisted the ex-MP with false claims during June 2019.
The offending came to light when Arnold went to police in summer 2019 and revealed that fake invoices had been submitted.
Another co-defendant, John Woodliff, was cleared of one offence of fraud by the jury.
O'Mara was acquitted of two further offences of fraud while Arnold was cleared of three further charges.
The pair will be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court tomorrow.
Nick Price, head of Special Crime and Counter Terrorism at the CPS, said: “These claims for taxpayers’ money were blatantly false and O'Mara and Arnold knew that full well.
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