Peter Mandelson was arrested at his Regent’s Park dwelling amid issues he posed a possible flight threat, in accordance with his authorized crew.
The former cabinet minister and peer was detained on Monday afternoon on suspicion of misconduct in public workplace, following allegations that delicate authorities paperwork had been leaked whereas he was serving as enterprise secretary underneath Gordon Brown.
Police questioned Mandelson for a number of hours earlier than releasing him on bail within the early hours of Tuesday morning. As a part of his bail situations, he was required to give up his passport.
His attorneys mentioned officers had beforehand agreed to interview him on a voluntary foundation subsequent month however moved to arrest him following what they described as a “baseless suggestion” that he was planning to relocate overseas.
In a press release, a spokesperson for Mandelson mentioned: “There may be completely no reality by any means in any suggestion that he was intending to go away the nation completely. His overriding precedence is to cooperate totally with the police investigation and to clear his identify.”
Sources indicated that detectives from the Metropolitan Police Service acted after receiving new data over the weekend. Earlier this month, officers from the drive’s Central Specialist Crime crew executed search warrants at two properties linked to Mandelson and seized computer systems and paperwork for examination.
A supply near the investigation mentioned the choice to arrest was taken for “clear operational causes” after recent intelligence got here to gentle.
Mandelson has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing. The investigation stays ongoing.
