Billy Kenber, Senior Investigations Reporter for The Times has today (Wednesday 17th April) reported that Fylde MP Mark Menzies has used thousands of pounds raised by donors for private expenses. Billy Kenber alleges that the Conservative Party have been aware for three months and have taken no action.
Billy Kenber writes, ‘A Tory MP is under investigation over allegations that he misused campaign funds and abused his position after making a late-night phone call saying he’d been locked up by “bad people” who were demanding thousands of pounds. The phone call came in the dead of night.’
“Are you on your own?” Menzies said with urgency in his voice. “I’ve got in with some bad people and they’ve got me locked in a flat and they want £5,000 to release me.”
Menzies had allegedly rung his 78-year-old former campaign manager, a woman who The Times has not named, waking her from her sleep, asking her to hand over thousands of pounds from a bank account containing donations to the MP’s campaign.
A source close to MP Menzies has told The Times investigation that Menzies had met a man on an online dating website and gone to the man’s flat, before subsequently going with another man to a second address where he continued drinking. He was sick at one point and several people at the address demanded £5,000, claiming it was for cleaning up and other expenses.
The source said Menzies decided to pay them because he was scared of what would happen otherwise, but did not have the funds to transfer the money from his own savings. His aides gave him money ‘as friends who wanted to help’.
In a statement to The Times, Menzies said: ‘I strongly dispute the allegations put to me. I have fully complied with all the rules for declarations. As there is an investigation ongoing I will not be commenting further.’
A Conservative Party spokesman said to The Times: ‘The Conservative Party is investigating allegations made regarding a Member of Parliament. This process is rightfully confidential. The party takes all allegations seriously and will always investigate any matters put to them.’
The full story is reported exclusively in The Times : https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-mark-menzies-under-investigation-campaign-funds-bhksggpwl
