DISGRACED deputy London mayor Ian Clement could face a police probe over his use of his City Hall credit card.
Mr Clement, 44, who was forced to resign on Monday, is also facing an investigation into bills he ran up on a Bexley Council credit card when he was leader of the council.
The Met. Police have confirmed they have received an official complaint about Mr Clement’s claims on his Greater London Authority (GLA) card, but said no investigation has yet been launched.
Mr Clement is the only Bexley councillor ever to have asked for, and received, a council credit card.
It was approved by the acting chief executive Dave Berry, to reduce administration.
Bexley’s Labour Group leader, Councillor Chris Ball, has written to the council’s chief executive, Will Tuckley, querying a number of items Mr Clement claimed on his council card.
These include expenses for attending a London Councils meeting, when the minutes show Mr Clement had sent apologies for his non-attendance.
Mr Clement also used his council card for personal shopping, in a similar way to his GLA card, paying the money back the next month.
In total he paid back Bexley more than £1,200.
Bexley says his use of the card was checked monthly.
Cllr Ball claims Mr Clement may have been charging to Bexley, expenses he incurred as part of Mr Johnson’s election campaign team and says London’s Mayor must pay back the money.
The Labour Group has tabled a motion for the July 15 council meeting asking the council to set up a committee to investigate Mr Clement’s allowances and expenditure and report on any discrepancies.
It is asking any Bexley councillors who Mr Clement entertained at GLA expense, including Katie Perrior (who also worked on Mr Johnson’s campaign) Gareth Bacon (also a London Assembly member) and backbenchers Joe Pollard, James Spencer and Melvin Seymour, to pay the money back.
The motion also suggests Bexley should take criminal proceedings against Mr Clement for any fraudulent claims.
The current leader of Bexley Council, Councillor Teresa O’Neill, was Mr Clement’s deputy until he resigned to take up his deputy mayor’s post in May last year.
She said yesterday she had not been aware that Mr Clement had a Bexley credit card until the row over the use of his GLA card became public.
She said: “It was Ian’s responsibility to ensure he only used the card for expenditure relating to his council duties.”
Cllr O’Neill added: “Since Ian returned his card in May 2008, no further cards have been issued to members of the council, and we have no plans to do so.”
Mr Clement used the Bexley card from July 2007 until May 2008, when he resigned to take up his new job as deputy mayor for government and external relations.
His council spending included a £92 meal at posh London restaurant Le Pont de la Tour with Sutton Council and a £154 stay on April 23 2008 at the Park Plaza, a deluxe four star hotel near City Hall, used as a headquarters for the Mr Johnson’s mayoral campaign, while Mr Clement was attending an aerospace exhibition.
Personal spending included £364 for a hotel in Cologne on December 28 2007, and £513 for another Park Plaza stay on May 4 2008, three days after Mr Johnson's election.
Cllr Ball said although Mr Clement was no longer a Bexley councillor, his Tory colleagues had to take some responsibility for his actions.
He added: “They failed to stop his expenditure, despite their enormous council majority and a number of them benefited from his credit card ‘freebies’.”
He added measures had to be put in place to make sure “this disgraceful episode is never repeated” and any money wrongly spent recouped.
Currently 88 Bexley senior and middle management and technical taff have council credit cards.
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