Apsana Begum MP cleared of housing fraud
The Labour MP Apsana Begum has been cleared by a jury over claims of housing fraud, in a prosecution brought by Tower Hamlets council, which claimed she had withheld information about her circumstances to obtain social housing.
The Poplar and Limehouse MP, who was first elected in 2019 with a 28,904 majority, was acquitted on three counts of housing fraud between 2013 and 2016 at Snaresbrook crown court in east London following a week-long trial.
The council accused Begum of costing it almost £64,000 by not notifying it she was no longer living in overcrowded housing, as was the case when she first sought social housing, because she had moved in with her partner, Ehtashamul Haque.
But Begum said she had notified the council for council tax purposes, that she was in a difficult persona...