A former police officer, he was elected in 2004 as a member of the UK Independence Party but later had the whip withdrawn when allegations of misuse of parliamentary expenses surfaced in The Sunday Telegraph.
Following an inquiry carried out by the European Anti-Fraud Office, Wise was formally charged with false accounting and money laundering by Bedfordshire Police.
[9] In his maiden speech to the Parliament on 16 December 2004, Wise blamed the European Union for creating unacceptable conditions for the transit of animals around Europe.
[18] On 23 October 2005, a reporter for the Sunday Telegraph, Daniel Foggo, published an article accusing Wise of claiming £36,000 a year from the European Parliament in the name of his researcher, Lindsay Jenkins, while only passing on about a sixth of that amount to her.
According to now-repealed rules governing the payment of expenses and allowances to Members of the European Parliament, MEPs could claim up to £125,000 per year for assistants' wages, but this money must be paid either directly to the employees or to a third-party agent.
The actual agreement between Wise and Jenkins stated that she would receive monthly "retainer" payments of £500 for advice and statistical research, with any extra work to be paid on top.
[19] As Daniel Foggo later reported, UKIP's former leader, Roger Knapman, halted the inquiry after it uncovered serious wrongdoing, believing that the European Parliament would clear Wise.
[21] Farage told reporter Daniel Foggo that Wise "had committed a simple, silly error by making himself a "paying agent" for his own staff.
Farage emphasised that, if cleared by the OLAF investigation, Wise would be welcomed back into the party, adding that he thought "there is a great deal of public sympathy for us.
[25] On 20 June 2008, Wise was arrested by Bedfordshire Police's Economic Crime Unit on suspicion of making a false instrument, obtaining money by deception by transfer and converting criminal property.
[33] The case was transferred to Southwark Crown Court and charges specified: that Wise and Jenkins "falsified a document, namely a contract for provision of services, an application for secretarial assistance allowance and invoices".
Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC heard the prosecution argue that Wise channelled parliamentary funds into an account he secretly controlled so that he could pay credit card debts and buy fine wines.
[37] On the third day of the trial, just before Nigel Farage was due to give evidence against him, Wise began several hours of negotiations with his legal team after which he changed his plea to guilty and said he was entirely to blame for the fraud.
You knew the system of expenses inside out and this was a claim you devised and planned with some care.The judge added that, in addition to jail, Wise would also have to pay £30,000 towards the prosecution's costs.