Co-op boss Paul Flowers was suspended by drug charity for “£75,000 false expenses claims”

Blimey – it just keeps on coming. It’s emerged that “Crystal Methodist” Paul Flowers quit the board of trustees of a drugs charity following allegations he’d made £75,000 of false expenses claims.

The charity was allegedly left with a £150,000 “total cost of clearing up the mess”, its CEO told Sky News.

The Daily Mail reports that the former Co-operative Bank chairman was suspended by the Lifeline Project, but stepped down before the charity’s investigation into the expenses allegations was completed.

Flowers was busted by the Mail on Sunday in a video that appears to see him doing a £300 class A drugs deal, and is under police investigation for buying crystal meth and crack cocaine.

Lifeline CEO Wardle said: “I developed concerns at the beginning of 2004 about some of the claims which had been made and I spoke to our treasurer at the time and we then involved our solicitor and then to cut a long story short in June 2004 I raised the matter formally, fully and in depth with our trustee body.

“Our trustee body suspended Reverend Flowers and then we investigated the claims and we investigated five years of claims.”

The charity decided not to publicise the matter to protect its own reputation.

Flowers was still in hiding last night, the Mail reports.

Co-op chairman Len Wardle quit earlier this week over the Flowers drugs-use claims.

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