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Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg and Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross are both being investigated by Westminster’s sleaze watchdog.
Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, is now looking into allegations against the pair of Tory MPs, according to an updated register of her current investigations.
It means there have now been three investigations launched by Ms Stone in the wake of Westminster’s recent sleaze row, which was prompted by the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal.
Both Mr Rees-Mogg and Mr Ross are listed as being under investigation over the registration of interests related to employment and earnings.
Last month, Labour demanded Mr Rees-Mogg be probed over claims he failed to properly declare £6m in loans from one of his companies.
According to a Mail on Sunday report, Mr Rees-Mogg borrowed up to £2.94m a year in “director’s loans” from his UK-based Saliston Ltd between 2018 and 2020.
The newspaper said the money was primarily used to buy and refurbish his £5.6m home in Westminster.
Mr Rees-Mogg wholly owns Saliston and is listed as a “person with significant control” in Companies House records.
Saliston part-owns investment firm Somerset Capital Management Ltd, of which Mr Rees-Mogg is a shareholder and is the parent company of a Cayman Islands subsidiary.
Labour has called on the cabinet minister to “come clean” about all of his financial interests outside of parliament.
But Mr Rees-Mogg has insisted he has properly declared all his financial affairs.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “Saliston is 100 per cent owned by me. This is declared clearly in the Commons register and to the Cabinet Office.
“It has no activities that interact with government policy. The loans from 2018 were primarily taken out for the purchase and refurbishment of [my home] as temporary cash flow…
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Source : skynews
