Three Labour MPs and a Conservative peer have been charged with false accounting under section 17 of the Theft Act 1968.
Elliot Morley (Lab, Yorkshire and Humberside) faces two charges under the act.
He stands accused of dishonestly claiming mortgage expenses worth £14,428 in excess of what he was entitled, between April 2004 and February 2006.
It is also alleged he claimed £16,000 in mortgage costs for the same property between March 2006 and November 2007 when there was no longer a mortgage to be paid.
After the revelations about his expense claims were revealed, Morley was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party and referred to the party’s “star chamber” panel.
He pre-empted their findings by announcing that he would stand down at the next general election.
The Yorkshire and Humberside MP served the Blair government as a minister in the various environment departments for nine years from 1997 until 2005.
David Chaytor (Lab, Bury North) faces three charges. He is accused of claiming £12,925 in rent for a property in Regency Street between September 2005 and September 2006, when he was in fact the owner.
And it is alleged he claimed £5,425 between September 2007 and January 2008 for renting a property owned by his mother.
He is also accused of claiming for £1,950 for IT services in May 2006 by using false invoices.
He was the second MP to be suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party, after Morley, in light of his expenses claims. At the time he referred his own case to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner and offered to pay back the money
The decision to prosecute Chaytor was revealed this morning just after he had introduced his Local Authorities (Overview and Scrutiny) private member's Bill in the Commons.
The Bill is designed to provide greater scrutiny of local government services in order to "improve accountability".
Opening the second reading debate on the Bill, he said it was time for local government to be put "firmly at the centre of decision-making in their community" and to be able to "hold all public service providers to account".
Jim Devine (Lab, Livingstone) stands accused of claiming £3,240 for cleaning services between July 2008 and April 2009 and £5,505 for stationary in March 2009 using false invoices.
Devine had been Robin Cook's election agent for twenty years, and succeeded the former Foreign Secretary as MP for Livingstone in 2005 following Cooks death.
But his time as an MP will have been particularly short, as he was deselected by the Labour Party and barred from standing again after allegations about his expenses claims.
The former trade union official claimed he had been "hung out to dry" and had done nothing wrong. He had threatened to resign and force a by-election or stand as an independent at the next general election.
Lord Hanningfield faces six charges. The Conservative peer issued "numerous claims" for overnight expenses for staying in London, when records appear to show he was driven home and did not sleep in the capital.
Lord Clarke of Hampstead has avoided prosecution after the CPS found there was" insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction".
He has resigned as frontbench Conservative business spokesman in House of Lords following the announcement.
A sixth case is "still under consideration" as the criminal investigation is ongoing.
Announcing the details of the prosecutions this morning, Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions said that the accusations against the six individuals had been subject to a "careful and detailed police investigation".
He said: "Lawyers representing those who have been charged have raised with us the question of Parliamentary privilege. We have considered that question and concluded that the applicability and extent of any Parliamentary privilege claimed should be tested in court.
"Can I remind all concerned that the four individuals now stand charged of criminal offences and they each have the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that nothing should be reported which could prejudice any of these trials."
The defendants have been summonsed to appear at the City of Westminster Magistrates' Court at 2pm on 11 March 2010.
The maximum sentence under Section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 for false accounting is seven years in prison.
Today's announcement by the CPS follow yesterday's damning verdict on MPs' expenses by Sir Thomas Legg, who conducted an audit of all claims made in recent years.
Ironically, Morley, Chaytor and Devine were all not asked to repay any money after the expenses audit by Sir Thomas Legg.
