A council chief has been suspended as police look into allegations of fraud at a town hall.

Jugal Sharma, the head of housing at Brighton and Hove City Council, has not been seen in its Kings House headquarters for at least two months.

The Argus asked the local authority about the issue last month but it refused to comment.

Since then, it has been revealed that police officers are helping the local authority with enquiries.


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Sussex Police confirmed it was investigating allegations of fraud at the local authority.

A police spokeswoman said: “An investigation into allegations of fraud at Brighton and Hove City Council has been launched by Sussex Police.

“The matters were drawn to the attention of police by the council in November following an initial investigation by its own internal audit team.

“There have been no arrests at this stage.”

A council spokeswoman said last night: “We can't comment on individual employee issues.”

It comes just weeks after Ian Withers, the council’s head of audit and business risk, was also suspended.