Vaz's 'extreme" mortgage bill was seven times higher than pay A source close to the initial investigations said it had been "frustrated" by a "Labour-dominated committee who wanted to do everything they could not to find against him." "They frustrated any rigorous investigation and thereby undermined the system," said the source. The source also expressed concern over Mr Vaz's current position as chairman of the home affairs select committee, saying it was "odd" for someone who is holding the police to account to be under suspicion themselves. The Daily Telegraph disclosed that a Metropolitan Police investigation into Mr Vaz discovered that he apparently held hundreds of thousands of pounds in a series of bank accounts. Its report alleged that the funds were "of a suspicious nature." Over a six-year period, almost £500,000 was apparently deposited into the MP's accounts in addition to his salary between 1997 and 2001. This included large amounts of cash, £28,959 in 1998 and £10,319 in 1999. The cash payments made it difficult for detectives to establish the source of the funds. A copy of a briefing note on the investigation, seen by this newspaper, also raises questions over mortgage payments being made by Mr Vaz. "A number of these payments seem extreme," the police report noted. According to the report, Mr Vaz had four separate mortgage accounts in February 1998 and "in total seven or eight mortgages" elsewhere between 1996 and 2001. In October 1998, he apparently spent £28,500 on mortgages, followed by more than £10,000 in the subsequent two months. Mr Vaz said: "All the properties I own are in the register. All properties and rent received has been declared. Andrew Bridgen, a Tory MP, urged John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, to carry out an inquiry, "as a matter of urgency." He also called for Mr Vaz to stand down as committee chairman. It's clear that Mr Vaz has had and does have complex financial arrangements. A full parliamentary inquiry should allow him to explain what happened," he said. Mr Vaz may have got away with refusing to answer questions 10 years ago, but since the expenses scandal, that is not acceptable. Mr Vaz was investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards between 2000 and 2001 after it was alleged that he may have benefited from money paid by a solicitor and the billionaire Hinduja brothers in their attempts to secure British passports. The minister was forced to resign and was suspended from Parliament for seeking to frustrate the investigation by refusing to provide financial information. Mr Vaz was cleared of the central allegation of receiving illicit funds.