Oh dear. It seems that Bill English's housing rort to scam "expenses" to live in his own home involved telling a few lies:
Finance Minister Bill English qualified for a $700-a-week rent payment from taxpayers after signing a declaration that he had no financial interest in the trust which owned his family home.According to the story, English was a joint owner of the property at the time, and did not transfer ownership of the property to his partner until March. So, at the time he made this declaration, it was false.It has been revealed that officials took concerns to the prime minister's office about whether Mr English qualified for the payment, which is double the amount he was entitled to as an ordinary MP.
But documents issued under the Official Information Act show they were told it would be okay as long as Mr English certified that he had no financial interest in the Endeavour Trust, which owns his $1.2 million Karori property.
After he made the declaration on February 1, rent payments totalling $12,133.33 were backdated to December 1. The declaration refers to a legal opinion, which has not been made public.
There is a name for this sort of thing: fraud. It's an ugly word, but it seems to apply. And if a beneficiary or someone receiving Working For Families told similar lies to inflate their eligibility, they would unquestionably be prosecuted for it. The same should happen to English. But I forget - it's one rule for them, another for us...
