EXCLUSIVE: CAMDEN MAYOR CHARGED IN BENEFITS INVESTIGATION

Sunday March 29, 2010

EXCLUSIVE by RICHARD OSLEY

CAMDEN'S Mayor Omar Faruque Ansari has been charged in a Department of Work and Pensions investigation relating to benefits payments he received, the New Journal can reveal.

His bail expired late on Friday and after appearing before investigators it is understood he was told that he will face a court hearing.

He was charged with two counts of dishonestly failing to notify a change in his care and mobility needs, alleged offences that relate to 2006. A third charge of deception covering the period between June 2006 to January 2010 has also been brought by the Department of Work and Pensions.

Cllr Ansari, currently suspended from Camden's group of Liberal Democrat councillors, has publicly declared his innocence since his arrest at the Town Hall last month. The case was revealed in a New Journal exclusive following a dramatic day at the council's headquarters.

Cllr Ansari has previously told how he had expected the matter to be quickly sorted out without further police action or the need for a court case. "I have done nothing wrong," he told reporters. "I have not broken the law and I have declared everything. I have been a good mayor and I want to continue to serve Camden.”

But in the days following his arrest, Cllr Ansari, a councillor for Kentish Town, suffered a heart attack, spent several days in the Royal Free Hospital and is off from council business on sick leave.

His deputy Lulu Mitchell has carried out most of the Mayor's duties.

Cllr Ansari will now be asked to enter a plea in a court hearing next month.