Knocks MPs fiddling expenses into a cocked beret

[jake-the-peg]

http://www.nytimes.co.../28briefs-CHIRAC.html

Former president Chirac accused of embezzling funds via 21 ficticious employees agrees to pay $3 million to get the case dropped.

He denies any wrong doing !!

Anybody up for dropping charges against the MPs over here if they pay back money?

No?

[jno]

He's still on trial; it's just that one of the parties has withdrawn

http://www.google.com...FyUGfdB-O-a0qp2MgmOnw

[rov1200]

I'm surprised that with all the home flipping that went on and claims for certain expenses that only 4 MPs (including 1 Lord) ended up in the dock. By the time it reaches a trial I suppose they will be let off as they and their career have suffered enough.

I believe there are still some outstanding cases where MPs have refused to pay back their illegal expenses. As many of them have left the commons or thrown out you will need the debt collectors to retrieve it.

[jake-the-peg]

OK - but the principle here!

And this isn't some dodgy back bencher - this is an ex-President!!

Isn't it incredible it's not all over the press here?

[jno]

probably just because he is an ex-president. My recollection is that Paris was really only in the list of accusers because it wanted the money back - in the position of a civil plaintiff rather than a criminal prosecutor; it was happy to leave to the state the job of having him punished.

[R1Geezer]

err excuse me but surely France is the uptopian heaven that you commies allways quote, are you saying, heaven forfend, that they are in some way less than utopian?

[jno]

when did anyone ever say France was an uptopian heaven? (Whatever that is.) Bunch of cheese-eating surrender monkeys is more like it.

[naomi24]

No. If you're saying what he's done negates what our MPs did you're wrong. They're all crooks. And why would you expect it to be all over the press here anyway? It's the French he's cheated, not us.