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Ex-Labour MP David Chaytor has pleaded guilty to three charges of false accounting in relation to his expense claims.
Chaytor had previously denied the charges but changed his plea when he appeared at the Old Bailey today.
The former MP for Bury North was charged with three offences under the Theft Act 1968, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment.
He has pleaded guilty to three offences related to misuse of his parliamentary expenses and is the first MP to receive a criminal conviction as a result of the expenses scandal.
Chaytor claimed £12,925 in rent for a property in Regency Street between September 2005 and September 2006, when he was in fact the owner.
He also claimed £5,425 between September 2007 and January 2008 for renting a property owned by his mother and £1,950 for IT services in May 2006 by using false invoices.
Chaytor and two other MPs Elliot Morley and Jim Devine had initially attempted to avoid prosecution by claiming parliamentary privilege.
The three had argued that their fate should be decided by Parliament rather than the courts.
But last month the Supreme Court in London upheld an earlier ruling that they were not protected by the privilege.
In a decision in October, Justice Saunders said he could see "no logical, practical or moral justification" for a claim for expenses being covered by privilege.
Under parliamentary privilege, proceedings in parliament cannot be impeached or questioned in the courts and MPs cannot be sued or prosecuted for anything they say or do in the House or a committee.
However, the protection of privilege applies only to "proceedings" in Parliament and not MPs expenses.
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