CNJ EXCLUSIVE: LIBERAL DEMOCRATS SUSPEND MAYOR OVER BENEFITS INVESTIGATION
Published: Monday January 25, 2010
EXCLUSIVE by RICHARD OSLEY
THE Mayor of Camden, Councillor Omar Faruque Ansari, has been suspended from the Liberal Democrat group tonight (Monday) after he was arrested by benefit investigators.
Council leader Keith Moffitt said he would remain suspended until "a serious investigation" was complete. It is understood Cllr Ansari was stopped at the Town Hall today and questioned by investigators from the Department of Work and Pensions at Holborn police station. He was released without any charges being brought. The investigation, however, is ongoing and Cllr Ansari has been bailed until March. The case does not relate to council funds. He denies any wrong-doing.
Members of the Lib Dem group were brought together for a meeting by Cllr Moffitt at the Town Hall tonight, where it was decided to suspend Cllr Ansari. Officially, he remains the Mayor of Camden - the borough's first citizen - despite the suspension.
Scotland Yard said tonight the matter was a case being investigated by the DWP. A spokesman said: "We can confirm a 55-year-old man was arrested and taken into custody at a central London police station. He was later bailed to return on a date in March.”
Cllr Moffitt said in a statement tonight: "Councillor Omar Faruque Ansari has today been suspended as a member of the Liberal Democrat Group on Camden Council pending the outcome of a serious investigation. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Liberal Democrat Group held today and takes effect immediately. Cllr Ansari has been suspended in the light of allegations being investigated by the Department of Work and Pensions. The allegations are unrelated to his position on the council. I have no further comment to make at this stage."
Cllr Ansari was voted in as Mayor last May. He has been on Camden Council since 2006 when he won a seat in Kentish Town ward.
Conservative leader Councillor Andrew Marshall, whose party shares power with the Lib Dems at the Town Hall, said: "These are serious allegations and it would not be right to comment further given the ongoing investigation. In this country everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Benefit fraud is pernicious crime and all of us in public office have a duty to maintain the highest standards of probity."