£12m legal aid fraud case against judges is ‘racist witch-hunt’
‘A complex conspiracy’
THE prosecution of three judges for an alleged £12.6million legal aid scam was branded a ‘racist witch-hunt’ by one of their fellow defendants yesterday.
The judges and six other legal officials pledged to prove their innocence as they appeared in court for the first time.
Members of the alleged conspiracy repeatedly interrupted proceedings at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
As they faced Emma Arbuthnot, the Chief Magistrate for England and Wales, one of the judges facing trial stood up to correct the prosecutor. Another then overruled his lawyer to insist he had no knowledge of the ‘extent of the claims’, adding: ‘That is very important.’
And in an angry rant, a co-defendant and former court clerk accused police of a ‘racist witch-hunt’, insisting: ‘It will all come out.’
The nine judges, barristers and other legal officials are accused of forming a corrupt ring who manipulated the publiclyfunded system to line their own pockets. A total of £12.6million was allegedly claimed in a ‘large and complex conspiracy’, of which £1.4million was paid out in suspicious circumstances.
Outlining the case against them, prosecutor Joe Bird said suspicions of fraud emerged after a substantial legal aid claim was queried.
‘This relates to a number of claims of defence cost orders which the Crown says were fraudulent,’ he said.
‘They either involved false claims or over-inflated claims and these defendants were involved in some if not all of those claims.
‘They are all linked together, different firms, different drafting costs but there’s a common thread between them.’
In the dock were husband and wife Rasib Ghaffar, 48, and Kareena Maciel, 46, who both sit as part-time immigration judges. The couple, from South Woodford, East London, also run the firm UK Law Solicitors and have mixed in the highest legal circles.
The third judge facing charges is Razi Shah, 48, who was once shortlisted for Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year and is based in Windsor, Berkshire. The lawyer, part-time civil judge and former lecturer has enjoyed a distinguished career, picking up a string of awards.
The others to face charges are legal clerk Gazi Khan, 49, barrister Shahid Rashid, 57, lawyer Joseph Ameyaw-Kyeremeh, 67, solicitor Azhar Khan, 46, and solicitor Lloyd Moody, 48.
A ninth defendant, solicitor Samira Bashir, 46, appeared in court at a separate hearing later yesterday. All the defendants are accused of fraud offences.
The police inquiry began in December 2012 when court officials were alerted to several suspicious applications for legal aid. They called in police who started an investigation, arresting three suspects and questioning nine more under caution.
At the centre of the claims is a civil dispute involving a chain of Indian restaurants based in Bournemouth.
At one stage up to ten cases, both criminal and civil, were under the spotlight, with claims totalling more than £15million in question.
Prosecutors suspect lawyers switched the way in which clients’ representation was funded from legal aid to private without telling them.
As a result they were able to charge far higher costs rather than the flat fees imposed by the publicly- funded system when they were cleared. In the past defendants who were privately represented and were acquitted or had the charges dropped could claim their costs back from the taxpayer.
The rules were changed in 2012 and privately paying defendants can now recoup only a fraction of their costs.
The Chief Magistrate yesterday ordered the accused judges and their co- defendants to attend Southwark Crown Court on August 14.
She told them: ‘You are all on unconditional bail. You know exactly what that means but I have to tell you anyway.’ c.greenwood@dailymail.co.uk