THE investigation into Labour MP Apsana Begum over allegations of housing fraud are still ongoing, Tower Hamlets Council has reconfirmed.
Apsana Begum, 29, was given a £330,000 desirable riverside property just months after moving out of her estranged husband’s home. Official complaints were made over how the far-left Corbynista leapt to the top of a 18,000-strong housing list, despite having no children.
The councillor’s daughter has been dogged by controversy because of her close links to former mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman, who was banned for vote-rigging, yet who continues to work behind the scenes in the crime-riddled London borough, and who supported Begum throughout her successful election bid.
Allegedly using her contacts at the council, Begum is thought to have applied for a council flat while living with her family in 2011. Begum moved in with her husband in 2014 but the couple split a year later.
Within just six months Ms Begum was offered the one-bed Isle of Dogs flat in a riverside block – jumping her own constituents; families and vulnerable residents, some of whom have been waiting desperately on the list for years.
Tower Hamlets only has the capacity to house 1,700 people per year, on a list of over 18,000 applicants.
A source from a political organisation in Tower Hamlets said: “She’s still in the flat despite earning £82,000 plus expenses a year as MP, and yet has the audacity to complain about housing shortages. The council are taking their time to ensure all their ducks are in a row. It has the potential to be bigger than the Onasanya saga”.
The reference is to Fiona Onasanya – another Labour MP who lost the seat she’d previously won in Peterborough with the help of a convicted vote-rigger, after being imprisoned for lying in court over a speeding offence.
Tower Hamlets issued the following statement:
“The council takes housing fraud very seriously. It would be inappropriate for us to comment on any specific allegations, but the public can be confident that any concerns are investigated by an experienced team in line with our procedures. The nature of these investigations means they can take a number of months to complete. It is right that the desire for speed is balanced against the need to be accurate and thorough.”
VoteWatch will update shortly.
