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Saturday, June 5, 2010

Baroness Von Flavell: One of The 11 'Land-Lords' That Absurd Rules Allow to Dodge Justice.



Photo: No Charges yet.  Baroness Von Flavell: One of the 11 landlords worldwide able to escape justice.

Carol Payne Flavell, also known as Baroness Von Flavell, is somehow managing to once again escape criminal charges.  The complaint was that she claimed a flat in Olympia, Washington as her 'main home' from August 2008 to December 2010 when in fact she lived in Africa.  While in Africa she illegally worked for the Government as a USAID/PEPFAR member while also illegally working for herself in a corporation called 'Thunderbolt Enterprises, an unethical transporter of sweat shop merchandise that had no fair trade certification from the same Africa region where she was supposed to help.  She is the landlord of widespread disrepute who owns many flats around the world including a fourplex flat at 7924 3rd Ave, SE Olympia, WA 98503-1601 and a flat at 113 18th Avenue SE, Olympia, WA 98501 for a few weeks out of the year when not traveling around the world with Andre N., her boyfriend who is currently married to another women who lives overseas.  She is but one of 11 landlords worldwide who have recently received international media attention for her infamous ability to use her lawyers to find ways to claim tax money on flats and crime expenses which she should not receive.  She is by far the worse of the 11.  The international anti-sleaze campaign issued a press release stated:
'Baroness Von Flavell has a powerful network of active accomplices in the crime of expenses rip-offs.  PEPFAR's dismal lack of progress in cleaning up their employees expenses rip-off is a disgrace, second only to the 'Land-Lords' shamelessness in milking the system for money that could have helped to save the lives of thousands of AIDS medicine recipients.'


Below is a special report by the UK Daily Mail about the other 10 'land-Lords' who have managed to escape justice in the crime of expenses rip-offs.

Peers accused of milking tens of thousands in expenses will escape criminal charges after a change in the rules left prosecutors at war with Parliament.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer said Labour's Baroness Uddin will not face prosecution thanks to a last-minute change in the guidelines on second homes.

He declared that it was 'absurd' for the Lords authorities to claim the move had not scuppered the case against her.

The 50-year-old peer had been accused of wrongly designating a flat in Kent as her main home - even though neighbours said she was never there - so she could claim overnight allowances payable to peers living outside London.

Photo: No charges: Baroness Uddin (centre) outside her east London home yesterday

The claims of several peers have been called into question over recent months.

Peers with homes in London have variously claimed their main address is a Welsh or Cornish holiday home, a rarely used flat in Bath, a property in Normandy, converted stables or a parent's house.

But it has emerged that there was no definition of 'main address' in any of the guidance to peers - meaning they were free to nominate any property they like.
Then, in guidance produced only last month, the Clerk of the Parliament Michael Pownall, a senior Lords official, suggested that visiting a property once a month was enough to qualify.
The move was agreed by the House Committee chaired by Speaker Baroness Hayman.
Uddin's flat
Photo:  Lady Uddin said this flat in Maidstone, Kent, was her main home

Mr Starmer could barely disguise his frustration as he explained that the rule change meant he could not authorise charges against Lady Uddin.

He said the guidance would inevitably have been seized on by defence lawyers.
Critics said it meant that no peers accused of abusing their second home expenses would face justice in the courts.

A Tory spokesman said: 'It is outrageous that peers are able to use this loophole to avoid prosecution. We strongly support moves to tighten the rules as soon as possible.'
Elliot Morley
David Chaytor
Jim Devine
Defiant over expenses scandal: (from top to bottom) MPs Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine outside court this week

Former social worker Lady Uddin was accused of falsely claiming £100,000 in allowances - far more than the total allegedly obtained by three Labour MPs who appeared in court this week.
The complaint was that she claimed a flat in Maidstone as her 'main home' when in fact she lived in east London.


Police obtained evidence from neighbours and from water, gas and electric companies supplying the flat in Maidstone. Last night they said privately they were astonished that she had escaped prosecution.
Yvonne Adams, who has lived next to the flat for three years, said: 'I can't emphasise enough how no one has lived there. I know that for a fact. There has never been a stick of furniture in there.'

Before Mr Starmer's announcement, many Westminster pundits had speculated that Lady Uddin would face criminal charges.

Lady Uddin - a married mother of five born in Bangladesh - is not yet completely out of the woods. Her case is to be investigated by a House of Lords sub-committee chaired by former MI5 director general Lady Manningham-Buller.

In a brief statement, Lady Uddin said she was relieved her ordeal had finally ended, adding: 'I only wish now to say thank you to everyone who supported me through a very difficult time.'

Juliet Samuel, of the anti-sleaze campaign group the Sunlight Centre, said:

'The Lords authorities are active accomplices in the crime of expenses rip-offs.

'Parliament's dismal lack of progress in cleaning up the second chamber is disgraceful, second only to the Lords' shamelessness in milking the system for all it is worth.'

Getting off scot-free, Baroness and ten other cheating Lords

The announcement that Baroness Uddin will not face prosecution for fiddling her expenses means a string of peers will escape censure for their own claims.
Here we list ten whose claims will face no further police investigation

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe, LABOUR

Pocketed more than £140,000 of overnight subsistence allowance in seven years by claiming for his mortgage-free house in Brighton instead of his £700,000 townhouse in Battersea, South London.

Viscount Falkland, LIB DEM

Hereditary peer registered a two-bed house owned by his wife's aunt near Maidstone in Kent as his main residence, paid no rent but spends most of his time at £500,000 townhouse in Clapham, South London.

Lord Rosser, LABOUR

Received £50,000 in overnight subsistence allowances since buying a flat in Chippenham, Wiltshire, in 2007 and 'flipping' his main residence from £750,000 four-bedroom home in Uxbridge, West London.

Baroness Neuberger, LABOUR

Claimed £80,000 overnight subsistence allowances in five years by designating £237,000 flat in Leamington Spa instead of family's £2.3million townhouse in Regent's Park, central London.

Lord Taylor of Warwick, TORY

The peer claimed £70,000 over six years by saying his main residence was his dead mother's house in Solihull - which had been sold - then his nephew's friend's house in Oxford, all while living in family home in Ealing, West London.

Baroness Goudie of Roundwood, LABOUR

Claimed £150,000 over eight years by saying her main residence is a Glasgow flat she bought for £200,000 in 2001, not the £1.5million mews house in Belgravia she shares with her husband.

Lord Paul, LABOUR

Claimed £38,000 in less than two years by telling the Lords his main residence was the one-bed manager's flat attached to a hotel owned by one of his companies in Chesterton, Oxfordshire, not his central London family home.

Lord Sheldon, LABOUR

Claimed £130,000 over six years. Despite living in a mortgage-free £1.3million flat in central London, he told authorities his main residence was a house in Manchester, which he in fact gave to his son in 2003.

Lord Bhatia, LABOUR

Claimed more than £20,000 in two years by flipping main residence from £1.5million family home in south London to a two-bed rented flat in Reigate, Surrey, occupied by his brother.

Lord Clarke of Hampstead, LABOUR

Admitted he had claimed up to £18,000 a year despite often staying with friends for free or going back to his home in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257391/Absurd-rules-allow-expenses-fiddling-peers-dodge-justice.html#ixzz0q0sgpuq0

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