On Tuesday 19th January, a former Labour Redbridge councillor who lied about his address in order to run for office was jailed for 68 weeks and pleaded guilty to three counts of causing or permitting a false statement to appear on a nomination form and one charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
51-year-old Chaudhary Mohammed Iqbal, pretended to live at a rental property in Ilford even as he lived in Barking, the Southwark Crown Court heard. He successfully won the Loxford seat on Redbridge Council in 2018 and reportedly lied about his address to police and encouraged a tenant at the Ilford home to join in the deceit. He is believed to have claimed more than £18,000 in expenses and allowances from the local authority, and continued to attend council meetings even after falling under police investigation. He denied the existence of a tenancy agreement for the property, claiming the tenants were his family friends.
Judge Sally Cahill QC sentenced him to nine months in prison for the electoral offences and a further eight months behind bars for the lies he told to police. She ordered him to pay £10,422.54 of prosecution costs and £28,368 in compensation to Redbridge Council for the allowances he claimed and the cost of running a by-election to replace him.
"This is a significant sentence for this type of offence. It reflects the seriousness with which the court viewed the wrongdoing in an electoral setting”, said Detective Chief Inspector Sarah McConnell, of the Met's Central Specialist Crime Command.
Iqbal is now banned from running for elected office for the next five years.
