Pimps get bail, claim convictions tainted by disgraced cop’s actions
Two men who were found guilty of pimping and human trafficking offences but claim that their convictions were tainted by the actions of a disgraced Vancouver police officer have been ordered released on bail pending their appeals.
In January 2018, Tamim Albashir and Kasra Mohsenipour were convicted of several counts relating to them luring three young women, one of them underage, into a life of prostitution.
The B.C. Supreme Court found that they had used threats of violence and actual violence, with Albashir at one point holding a gun to the head of one of the victims and telling her that she belonged to him.
The two young men were also convicted of attempting to obstruct justice after a $5,000 bribe was offered to one of the victims to recant her statement and to have her phone changed so that she could not be contacted by authorities.
But in their appeals they are alleging that the actions of former Det. Jim Fisher, who was the lead investigator on the attempt to obstruct justice count and had a large number of interactions with the three complainants, adversely affected their convictions.
Fisher pleaded guilty in 2018 to two counts of breach of trust and one count of sexual exploitation by kissing two other vulnerable complainants engaged in the sex trade.
He got 20 months in prison.
In March, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Gregory Fitch denied bail for the two men during their initial bail hearing. At the time their lawyers raised concerns about the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prison populations but the judge said he had not been provided with any information as to the safeguards being put into place by correctional authorities to prevent the introduction and spread of the virus into federal prisons.
Fitch had concerns about a number of things including what he called “informational gaps” in the case and the release plans being proposed.
Daniel McLaughlin of the B.C. Prosecution Service confirmed in an email that the B.C. Court of Appeal had ordered the release of the two men on Monday on $250,000 sureties.
Their conditions of bail include 24-hour house arrest with certain exceptions and GPS electronic monitoring.