Corrupt prosecutor took cash to stop court case

Sarfraz Ibrahim, 51, of Cyncoed, Cardiff, South Wales, admitted corruption and related charges yesterday on the eve of a trial.

As Gwent Crown Prosecution Service trials unit chief he had the power to stop a case in its tracks, recommending no further action, or deciding it should go to trial.

Co-defendant Saifur Rahman Khan, 37, of Penlan, Cardiff, went on trial as planned yesterday, claiming police manipulated him into helping Ibrahim.

Ibrahim admitted a charge of corruption, attempting to pervert the course of justice and misconduct in public office, between May and August 2009.

Khan denies a charge of aiding and abetting Ibrahim's misconduct in public office and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) police spent months setting up bogus identities after suspicions were raised about the pair, Swansea Crown Court heard.

Both were spotted by undercover SOCA operatives meeting at Bridgend M4 services with two high-level cocaine dealers in the summer of 2008.

The meeting with known criminals, who were under surveillance, triggered "anxiety" regarding Ibrahim's integrity, Jonathan Laidlaw, prosecuting, told the jury.

"Ibrahim's position as a barrister working for the Crown Prosecution Service made that anxiety all the more acute," he said.

As a result SOCA created an elaborate fictional scenario "to test whether he was prepared to act corruptly and whether Khan was ready to assist in such a venture".

Investigations found no evidence to suggest either Ibrahim or Khan had links with the drugs world which triggered initial suspicions.

Khan and Ibrahim were friends who lived within walking distance of each other in the well-heeled suburbs near the city's crown court.

Businessman Khan ran his own property letting agency called Kingston Residential Property Lettings.

An undercover SOCA officer, posing as a businessman named Tariq, approached Khan claiming he wanted to rent rooms for an employee named Nick Baker, Mr Laidlaw said.

Once Mr Baker, also an undercover officer, was put in place by March last year the sting operation was in place.

"A couple of months later in May of last year with Nick accommodated and set, the SOCA, using real police officers, staged an arrest of the undercover police officer.

Police prepared an authentic file containing all the usual details from witness statements to interviews with the suspect.

Tariq would later drop in on Khan at work and talk about the problems his employee's arrest had caused.

The trial continues.