Jared O’Mara: Former Sheffield Hallam MP denies fraud allegations

Former Sheffield MP Jared O’Mara denied making fraudulent claims for expenses worth £ 28,650.

Mr. O’Mara, 39, is accused of filing a series of false invoices with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

He appeared via video link at Sheffield Crown Court where he denied seven counts of fraud.

Mr. O’Mara, of Walker Close, Sheffield, served as an MP for Sheffield Hallam from June 2017 to November 2019.

He appeared in court alongside his former aide Gareth Arnold, 28, of School Lane, Dronfield, who denied six counts of fraud.

The couple and John Woodliff, 42, of Hesley Road, Sheffield, also face an additional cost under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The indictment has not been read in court, although all three men had previously pleaded not guilty during a hearing in Sheffield Magistrates’ Court last month.

The Authority for Independent Parliamentary Standards is the body that regulates the staff and business costs of parliamentarians, as well as their pay and pensions.

The court heard that some of the bills related to services provided by Mr. Arnold and others to organizations in South Yorkshire.

The crimes allegedly occurred in the period between 2018 and 2019.

All three men were released on unconditional bail and the next hearing will take place on January 7.

O’Mara replaced Sheffield Hallam for Labor from former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in June 2017.

He later resigned from the party and resigned as a deputy in the 2019 general election.

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