VIP paedophile ring fantasist Carl Beech has been granted almost £180,000 in Legal Aid, ChronicleLive can exclusively reveal.
And officials have admitted that figure could keep rising.
Beech was jailed for 18 years at Newcastle Crown Court after a string up lurid claims that high ranking officials tortured, abused and murdered children.
Yet in reality he was already a convicted paedophile.
But the 51-year-old's lies sparked a fruitless Scotland Yard probe which has already wasted £2m of public cash and sullied the names of string of high-profile figures, including Lord Jenner - who died before his name was cleared.
Now figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act have revealed Beech was granted a mountain of money to try and clear his name.
However, he was convicted of a dozen counts counts of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud after a 10 trial at Newcastle Crown Court.
He's since launched an appeal over the length of the sentence.
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures reveal Beach was granted £178,479 for barrister fees during his Newcastle Crown Court trial, over £1,400 in legal aid just for legal representation at police station, and that sum included over £470 in solicitor's fees for a police interview where Beech - who is a "committed and manipulative paedophile" - blamed his own SON for downloading indecent images.
The MoJ admit those figures could continue to creep up.
"As these matters have only very recently concluded, the billing process has not yet completed," said the Government department.
"Claims for payment are made in arrears once a trial has been finalised."
The hoaxer's sensational story - about a shadowy Westminster paedophile ring made up of some of Britain's most powerful men - sparked the Metropolitan Police's ill-fated Operation Midland investigation.
But when his lies began to unravel, the force brought it Northumbria Police to probe his claim.
Recently it emerged the force spent over £1m investigating the man once better known as 'Nick', an alias given to protect his identy.
However, the majority of that cash was reimbursed by the Met, which has since come under increasing pressure to probe the way it handled the heavily-criticised investigation.
That investigation, based on "cruel and callous" Beech's lies, caused immeasurable damage to some of those wrongly accused, such as ex-MP Harvey Proctor.
Others died with the allegations hanging over their heads.
