Yard officer charged over Amex scandal

An anti-terrorism officer working for Scotland Yard has been charged with corruption over the Amex credit card scandal.

Detective Constable Richard de Cadenet, 38, is the first to be indicted in connection with the investigation into claims that police used company-issue credit cards to spend public money on themselves, friends and family.

Two others - a serving officer and a retired 51-year-old detective sergeant - have also been arrested. They remain on bail. De Cadenet, who works for the Counter Terrorism Command, will appear before City of Westminster magistrates next Thursday.

More than 1,400 Amex cards have been withdrawn from detectives after about £2 million of expenses were unaccounted for. Some officers allegedly used the cards to pay for holidays and Rolex watches. One is said to have used his Met card to pay for his wife's plastic surgery.

The majority of the unexplained cash was submitted in expenses claims by officers working for the Yard's counterterrorism and detective squads.

Most of the "unreconciled" payments were due to officers being slow or disorganised in submitting payments.