Liar, crook and friend of billionaires and royalty... meet the lawyer who's tearing the Met apart
Awaiting sentence before a judge at Los Angeles Municipal Court, the
defendant is preparing for the worst. Educated at an English boarding school, a few weeks short of his 30th
birthday, he has neither youth nor hardship to excuse his crime. His leading role in a tele-marketing scam deserves a 'substantial' jail
sentence, the prosecuting District Attorney believes. Having entered a guilty plea, the best the defendant in Case 90C000627
can hope for now is a period of probation and community service - typically
picking litter from the roadside, clad humiliatingly in a dayglo orange
vest. He will also have to pay back his victims and, unless he can keep his
conviction secret, find a job which is not based on trust or integrity, nor
involves the unsupervised handling of other people's money. A salutary lesson in crime not paying, it seems. But let us jump 6,000 miles and 17 years to Gloucester Place, Central
London. At an elegant Georgian terrace a short, immaculately-suited figure in his
late forties emerges from a chauffeured Rolls-Royce Phantom. Dr Shahrokh 'Sean' Mireskandari BSc (Hons), MA (Hons) JD (Hons), lawyer
to the great and the good, is about to begin his working day. And who would blame him for skipping joyfully into the HQ of his law
firm, Dean and Dean? A bow-tied butler and in-house chef will be at his beck and call. His
palatial, Persian-carpeted office has six chandeliers, under which he
colourfully berates his staff - mostly young, female and very attractive -
and beguiles potential clients. He can charge the latter as much as £750 an hour, among the highest fee
rates in London. It has paid for his £2million apartment overlooking Lord's
cricket ground, decorated with pictures of himself. In recent weeks his fame and influence have reached new heights. Mireskandari is representing Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur in
his extraordinary race discrimination employment tribunal against
Metropolitan Police chief Sir
Ian Blair. 'Masterminding' is how many describe the lawyer's powerful influence. He has boasted that his team is 'running rings' around the Met and its
aim is to 'destroy the Commissioner and his golden circle'. These comments backfired spectacularly this week when Blair effectively
suspended Ghaffur for the 'media campaign' run by his advisers. Meanwhile the lawyer is pursuing his own £10million action against the
Solicitors Regulation Authority, the profession's watchdog, which he accuses
of having racially harassed and defamed him. Both the Met and SRA are mighty institutions. But Mireskandari also has
powerful associates, many involved in the race relations industry. He is best friend and legal representative to fellow Iranian Commander
Ali Dizaei, the president of the National Black Police Association, for
which Dean and Dean provides official legal advice. The NBPA is backing
Ghaffur. He is a also a confidant of the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs
Select Committee, the Rt Hon
Keith Vaz MP, who has described Mireskandari as
'one of the best lawyers in the world'. Indeed, at the Palace of Westminster Vaz recently presented his friend
with the 'Asian Solicitor of the Year' award. The MP and his family are
frequent VIP guests of the solicitor. At social functions he rubs shoulders with the likes of Leader of the
Commons and Labour Party deputy leader Harriet Harman. Mireskandari also represents royal families, billionaire tycoons such as
the Hindujas and foreign politicians. Many are invited to his annual
Christmas party at a Park Lane hotel, which is recorded on a 'souvenir' DVD. How many of his powerful clients and friends know that the lawyer is also
a crook - the man who stood in that Los Angeles dock in 1991? Or that news of his legal eminence in the UK and impressive academic
qualifications is greeted with incredulity by those who once knew him in the
States, where he gained most of his 'legal experience'? Following a Daily Mail investigation, the damning truth about Sean
Mireskandari can be revealed. Tarique Ghaffur, number three at Scotland Yard, has put his legal affairs
into the hands of a fraudster with doubtful qualifications, who has left a
trail of 'appalling' litigation and blighted lives. Sean Mireskandari was born in Iran in 1961 and came to the UK aged six.
At 13 he was sent with his older brother to board at Clayesmore School in
Dorset. Having failed most if not all of his O-levels, he moved to London.
Friends remember that he flunked the exams again. His UK student visa having expired, he returned to Iran, just before the
Islamic Revolution. The legend is that young Mireskandari fled 500 miles on a pony across
mountains to Turkey. From there he reached the eastern United States where
he claimed political asylum and lived with his father. By the late 1980s he had relocated to California where he worked as
chauffeur, driving the gold Rolls-Royce of a Beverly Hills businesswoman.
But he wanted to make serious money of his own. His vehicle was a tele-marketing business; cold-calling targets to say
they had been 'randomly selected' for discount international air fares and
hotel accommodation. Part of the deal was to buy a plastic camera. Of course, the air fares were not bargains, the camera's price was
grossly inflated and when travellers turned up at the hotels with their
certificate from Mireskandari's firm 'no one knew anything about it', said
the district attorney's office. We tracked down 38-year-old Patricia Darcy who, as a teenager, was
employed by Mireskandari and would suffer jail and bankruptcy as a result. She said she started working for the Iranian in San Francisco after
answering a newspaper advert and she became involved in the cold calling
operation. 'Eventually we had gone through all the phone books in the area. So he
decided to move to Southern California and asked me to go with him.' In the town of Ventura, Mireskandari opened an office in Miss Darcy's
name. 'He had a Jaguar with a cell phone and he used my social security number
to get the account. 'He had a friend with a gas station and they would charge up to $1,000 at
a time to my American Express card and they never paid me back. 'Eventually I had to file for bankruptcy because he wouldn't pay for
anything. He even bought a baby grand piano on my credit.' The money was to be the least of her problems, she said. 'Some months
after I had left his firm the Ventura District Attorney's office came after
me.' More than 50 customers had complained about the racket, carried out from
the office in Miss Darcy's name. She was arrested and spent several days in jail before being charged with
consumer fraud. In early 1991 at Los Angeles Municipal Court she was advised to enter a
limited guilty plea and was fined and sentenced to community service,
including litter picking. The DA's office also went after Mireskandari. 'They knew I wasn't the
mastermind,' says Miss Darcy. By this time, Mireskandari was on the payroll of a Los Angeles law firm.
His job was to find clients among the city's wealthy Iranian expatriate
community. When he was charged with the telemarketing-related offences the firm
stood by him, representing him in court. The DA's office wanted a prison sentence, his attorney remembers.
However, when he faced the judge on 'misdemeanour' charges (which carry a
maximum jail sentence of 12 months) it became evident that a plea bargain
could save him from the Ventura County Jail. According to the attorney involved in the case, which was reported in the
LA Times, Mireskandari was sentenced to three months on the 'criminal
justice work release programme'. This meant that instead of being jailed around the clock he would be
allowed to attend his place of work during the day, returning to prison in
the evenings. The weekends would be spent behind bars. Because Ventura was a 90-minute drive from his new place of work, said
the attorney, he was allowed to attend a government-run halfway house 15
minutes from his office. 'He was living with persons about to be released from the prison system.' On top of this Mireskandari had to serve three years' probation and pay
back some $6,813.90 to his known victims. Could this really be the man now
representing Britain's top ethnic minority police officer? Miss Darcy told the Mail: 'I had a hard time believing this could be the
same person until I saw his photo on his law firm's website. 'That's definitely the same person, just 18 years older and with a lot
less hair.' In time, according to his ex-attorney, California state law allowed
Mireskandari to have his guilty plea bargain struck out and his criminal
record expunged. The conviction became spent. Unless, of course he applied for something like an attorney's licence. Senior attorneys at the LA law firm which employed him were persuaded to
give him another chance following his conviction. 'There was a time when he seemed sincere,' one told the Mail. 'We tried
to help him. 'His main academic credential was a bachelor's degree from the University
of Pennsylvania (the university has no record of it). 'Sean had documentation which seemed to support this, although having
seen his written work, I am sceptical he could have graduated from any
college, anywhere at any time. 'Nevertheless, on the strength of this degree and our letter of
recommendation, Sean started a law course at a minor local university. 'Unfortunately he failed his exams miserably at the end of his first
semester. He failed his retakes and that was that. 'I want to make it clear that he never worked for us as a lawyer.' The attorney said that Mireskandari worked for the LA law firm until the
mid-1990s, when the relationship was 'terminated and not amicably'. What would he do next? He would return to the UK and become one of
London's most expensive lawyers. So how did he manage to accumulate so many letters after his name: BSc,
MA and JD, all with honours? A profile of him in the Law Gazette states that he gained 'a business
degree in the United States followed by a doctorate in law and a masters in
international law'. This summer the Solicitors Regulation Authority sent investigators to the
U.S. to examine the veracity of Mireskandari's qualifications. One man they spoke to was Jeffrey Brunton, head lawyer for Hawaii's
Office of Consumer Protection. He said the SRA had interviewed him about a law degree which it said had
been awarded to Mireskandari by the American University of Hawaii. Mr. Brunton said the 'university' was founded in the early 1990s by a
couple from Arizona. They based it in Hawaii because of the 'lax laws' at
the time. It was then sold to an American-based Anglo-Iranian named Hassan. 'He ran the American University of Hawaii until our courts shut it down,'
said Mr. Brunton. Of course it is possible that Mireskandari has a legitimate law degree
from a credible university somewhere. However, last night the Mail asked him
repeatedly to specify where he gained his qualifications and he refused to
answer. For the record the State Bars in California and Virginia both said that
they had no listing of any licensed lawyer by the name of Mireskandari. The
SRA inquiry continues. By 1999, with the discredited Hawaiian doctorate to his name,
Mireskandari was back in London and founding Tehrani and Co, Solicitors. His U.S. qualifications were convincing enough for him to be accepted on
the Law Society's rigorous Legal Practice Course, a conversion course for
overseas-qualified lawyers. Surprisingly, perhaps, he passed, qualifying as a solicitor in 2000. Did he disclose his conviction? A spokesman for the SRA said: 'We run a criminal record check as standard
practice. All applicants have to divulge all criminal convictions from the
past. 'A conviction would not necessarily bar someone and we use our judgment.
'But if it had something to do with financial dishonesty that would be a
very serious matter indeed.' By 2003 the firm's name was changed to Dean and Dean, with Mireskandari
its figurehead. An LA attorney who knew him says: 'I remember him saying there were
thousands of personal injury cases in the UK. It was like shooting fish in a
barrel.' Instead, Mireskandari was to specialise in race relations and the wealthy
Middle Eastern, Asian and Russian expatriate communities. He plans to open
offices in Moscow and Mecca. His 'expertise' doesn't come cheap. One former client was charged £10,000
for a day's work. An American attorney who has given a statement to the SRA said he had
been told it had received numerous complaints 'from people who have been
cheated out of their life savings and paid for services they never got'. One of his clients was Iranian-born academic Dr Sheida Oraki, 50. She
employed Mireskandari, then a trainee solicitor, for an agreed fixed fee of
£1,000. Yet when it was presented his bill had risen to £19,000. She refused to
pay and made a complaint to the Law Society. After litigation she offered to pay, but Mireskandari forced her into
bankruptcy as she would not withdraw her complaint. He is still pursuing her
for more than £150,000 in costs. Dr Oraki has been supported by the Liberal Democrat deputy leader Vince
Cable, who has brought up the case in the House of Commons. Another cause
célèbre is Mireskandari's even more expensive battle with
former client Angel Airlines. It refused to pay a grossly inflated bill of almost £500,000. A
specialist costs judge estimated that a reasonable bill would have been one
fifth of that figure. In June this year Mr. Justice Coulson pointed out that Mireskandari's
pursuit of the full fee had occupied 50 days of court time and the
participation of 24 judges. One fellow judge had described Dean and Dean's case as 'an appalling
piece of litigation'. Mr. Justice Coulson agreed. He said: 'The multiplicity of proceedings,
appeals and applications is the product of what I consider to be an abuse of
process by the proposed applicants, Dean and Dean.' So it's not only the Met around which the good doctor is running rings.
But the Mireskandari story could be about to turn full circle. In 1991 he had to return almost $7,000. Today, when his wealthy clients learn that he is a fraudster with
doubtful qualifications, will there be a new reckoning?
The crooked lawyer and his 'very good friend' police chief who told him how to tear a case apart The latter had never met the bride before and only been introduced to the
groom twice. Both occasions were at the palatial offices of their lawyer,
Shahrokh 'Sean' Mireskandari. There was an explanation, albeit unusual, for their invitations. One of the
East Europeans was the defendant in a very serious criminal case. She faced a
long prison sentence if found guilty. Superintendent Ali
Dizaei, of the Metropolitan Police,
advised Shahrokh Mireskandari on undermining a police case Mireskandari was her lawyer. The groom, whom Mireskandari
described in a speech to the guests as 'my very good friend', was Chief
Superintendent Ali
Dizaei of the Metropolitan Police. Dizaei is a controversial figure. Cleared of corruption charges in 2003 he
was reinstated, awarded compensation and put back on the promotion fast track
following a threatened ethnic minority recruitment boycott. Many now consider
him 'untouchable'. Perhaps that is why, against police regulations,
Dizaei was not only
fraternising with someone on bail - a guest at his wedding - but also advising
her defence team on how to pick holes in the prosecution case, put together by
his Met colleagues. We have witness statements and transcripts of recorded
conversations. Mireskandari expected to receive more than £1million in fees from the client
for his first nine months work alone. We shall look in more detail at this astonishing situation in due course.
But the wedding reception was not the only event at which the East Europeans
found themselves unexpectedly intimate with a powerful public figure because of
the case. A month before, the brother and sister-in-law of the defendant were invited
free of charge to an otherwise £1,000-a head Labour Party fundraiser at Wembley
Stadium. The host at their table? The Rt Hon
Keith Vaz MP, chairman of the House of Commons home affairs select
committee, the most influential backbencher in the field of law and order. The
defendant, or her relatives, would meet Vaz, they say, on at least four
occasions. Mireskandari is the £750-an-hour lawyer who represents Assistant Commissioner
Tarique Ghaffur in his racial discrimination case against Scotland Yard
Commissioner Sir Ian Blair. He also represents
Dizaei as well as Yasmin Rehman,
the Met's director of partnerships and diversity, who is also preparing a claim
of racist bullying against embattled Sir Ian. Yesterday we revealed that Mireskandari was once convicted of a consumer
fraud in the United States. Shahrokh Mireskandari. a convicted fraudster, used
Dizaei as a consultant He is also being investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
over his qualifications. The inquiry is focused on a law degree from a
'university' in Hawaii - simply a small office used as a mailing address - that
has since been closed down by the U.S, authorities. Being a lawyer with a criminal background is one thing. But Mireskandari's
power and influence extends far beyond the court room into the heart of British
public life. In this, his two closest and most useful cronies are
Dizaei and Vaz.
The policeman, the politician and the lawyer are very close. Indeed
Dizaei
and Vaz are such frequent visitors to the offices of Mireskandari's firm Dean
and Dean or guests at his Wembley and O2 Arena executive boxes that that one
lawyer described the trio as 'the Three Musketeers'. Mireskandari is
Dizaei's particular friend, as well as his lawyer and adviser
to the National Black Police Association, of which the commander is head. Both
are Iranian born.
According to fellow attendees,
Dizaei was in the Dean and Dean box at the O2
Arena for shows by the American comedian Chris Rock and the Spice Girls.
Dizaei and his new, third, wife have also been guests at other gala events.
Nothing remarkable about that. But now let us set out how this friendship
works in other, more sinister, ways. One spring day in 2005 a university IT
manager cycling home from work was hit and killed by a 4x4 at a London road
junction. As the victim lay dying the vehicle sped off without stopping. Much later it
was found in pieces at a scrap yard, an attempt having been made to dispose of
the evidence. In early 2006 the registered owner of the 4x4, an East European female, was
charged with causing the man's death by dangerous driving and attempting to
pervert the course of justice. According to the police manual, death by dangerous driving should be
investigated in the same way as a murder. Keith Vaz, MP, an enthusiastic supporter of the
lawyer's attempts to force an investigation
The defendant, who cannot be named because the case has yet to go to trial,
instructed City law firm Kingsley Napley. But nine months later after being
introduced to Mireskandari in a West End shop, she transferred her case to Dean
and Dean. The defendant's sister-in-law said: 'He told us, "I have never lost a case in
my life. I work for royalty. I have 20 years experience and I am the best lawyer
in the world. No lawyer in the country is better".' She added: 'It worked. He is a very good psychologist.'
Not a cheap one though. The family say Mireskandari charged them £750 an
hour. 'But he always told us, "Don't worry, the Crown will pay it back".'
Then Mireskandari played his trump card. In spring last year the defence team held a case conference at Dean and
Dean's offices in Gloucester Place. Present were the instructed QC, Orlando
Pownall and a number of Dean and Dean staff.
According to one source, the conference was under way when Mireskandari
entered and said: 'Ali Dizaei is coming to give us some advice and discuss areas
of police negligence and failure to do their duty in this case.' Understandably this caused surprise. Surely it was not appropriate for a
serving Met officer to be there? There was a clear conflict of interest. Was
Dizaei really coming to advise in
a case involving his own force? As it was clear that several people present were unhappy
Dizaei was not
invited to join the conference. But one of the team was told by Mireskandari to
go to another room with
Dizaei and 'hear what he had to say'. It was later reported back that
Dizaei had outlined in broad terms what
actions the police should have taken. He had also spoken about what his
colleagues had failed to do. In short, he gave pointers of weaknesses in the Met
case and how they could be exploited. This account was backed by the defendant's family. Her sister-in-law said:
'Sean told us that
Dizaei would be a consultant and would guide us about the
police work and whether they were right or not... whether they had done
something illegal.'
Keith Vaz's letter on behalf of Shahrokh Mireskandari Of course,
Dizaei could not be seen to be helping. This is spelt out
incontrovertibly in a conversation which took place between Mireskandari and a
colleague on June 5 last year. A recording was made. According to legal sources,
Mireskandari told his associate that, 'You are going to sit with Ali and dissect
all the police work .. . Ali will not be able to sit at trial'. Instead, Dizaei would feed questions to an intermediary to pass on to the QC:
The defendant's family say she met
Dizaei three times in all. The last was
when she attended the wedding reception. Her sister-in-law, who was also invited with her husband said: 'I was very
surprised that we were invited through Sean to be at the wedding. We had only
met
Dizaei a few times. It was weird. Why invite us?' The relationship between client and lawyer soured after less than a year. By
then they had paid him £500,000 in fees, but he is now suing them to secure half
a million pounds more. What would the family of the dead man think if they knew that a high-ranking
police officer was working behind the scenes to destroy the prosecution case
against the person charged with killing their loved one and then covering up
their guilt? Last night, when asked whether he had sought permission from his superiors to
act as a defence consultant in the case,
Dizaei answered: 'I am the president of
the National Black Police Association and in that capacity I speak to many
people. I have no recollection of meeting the defendant.'
Dizaei was promoted to commander rank earlier this year.
Keith Vaz has long had connections with the rich and famous. Two of his
richest and most controversial associates have both been, or still are, clients
of Mireskandari's. One is Nadhmi Auchi, the Iraq born, British-based billionaire, who is said to
be the 27th richest man in the UK. In the late 1990s Vaz was a director of the British arm of the Auchi empire.
In 2001 Auchi ran into trouble in France over illegal payments he was said to
have had received in connection with an oil refinery sale. The French applied for his extradition. Auchi phoned Vaz, then a Foreign
Office minister. Vaz then made inquiries on the tycoon's behalf to the Home
Office. Auchi eventually gave himself up and received a 15-month suspended sentence
and £1.39 million fine. He has always denied any wrongdoing and is appealing the
conviction. His link to the MP was revealed as Vaz and his immigration lawyer wife Maria
Fernandes were caught up in a parliamentary standards inquiry into the efforts
by the billionaire Hinduja brothers - who had been mired in an arms scandal in
their home country of India - to obtain UK passports. The affair led to the resignation of Northern Ireland Secretary Peter
Mandelson who was accused of helping one of the Hinduja brothers get a passport
in return for a donation to the Dome. Vaz was a minister. His wife's legal firm was employed by the Hindujas.
While most of the subsequent complaints against Vaz were not upheld, his
attitude to official inquiries saw parliamentary standards commissioner
Elizabeth Filkin recommend he be suspended from the House for a month. She described his answers as ' misleading' and his wife's as ' disingenuous',
adding: 'It is clear to me there has been deliberate collusion over many months
between Mr. Vaz and his wife... to prevent me from obtaining accurate information
about his possible financial relationship with the Hinduja family.' Vaz now faces new questions on his judgement about his links to Mireskandari.
Like
Dizaei he enjoys the lawyer's corporate hospitality, particularly
watching football at Wembley. 'If Keith wants the box then no one else can have it,' says one associate.
Witnesses also say that his wife has been a guest of Dean and Dean at the O2
Arena, where she attended concerts by Prince and the Rolling Stones. At the
latter event, she sat alongside the family of the East European
death-by-dangerous driving defendant. The Vazs attended two other Mireskandari-linked events with his East European
clients. One was the July 13 2007 Labour fundraiser. The other was an extraordinary memorial dinner for Mireskandari's mother,
shortly after her death last year. Vaz gave the keynote address. One guest said: 'He said that he had seen
Gordon Brown on his way to the dinner. 'Vaz said he asked me, "Keith where are you going?" I told him and Gordon
said, "Send my regards and say how sorry I am to Mr. Mireskandari".'
Last Christmas Mireskandari gave Vaz a special 'award' at his firm's annual
gala dinner. Auchi had been a guest of honour 12 months before. 'I'm thinking of suing Sir Ian Blair for racial
discrimination' An example of how Vaz and
Dizaei have worked with or for
Mireskandari is the
part they have played in the lawyer's war with the Solicitors Regulation
Authority. By the start of this year the watchdog had looked at a number of complaints
against Dean and Dean. The heat was on. But in February 'after pressure from the Labour MP Keith Vaz', the Guardian
newspaper reported, the SRA was compelled to form an independent working party,
led by a black female QC, to investigate whether or not it had
disproportionately targeted non-white lawyers for investigation. Last night sources close to Mr. Vaz claimed he had made the complaint on
behalf of a large number of ethnic minority lawyers. In fact Mr. Vaz had written on House of Commons notepaper to SRA chief Antony
Townsend, citing a complaint he had received from Mireskandari. The letter read: 'I enclose a letter I have received from Dr S.
Mireskandari... concerning what he regards as your prejudicial and
discriminatory conduct against his firm. I am very concerned about the matters
that he had raised... I would be grateful if you could look into the matters
raised an let me have a response as a matter of urgency.' He didn't mention their close personal friendship. But most astonishing of all was that among those on this ' independent'
working party was none other than a certain Ali
Dizaei. Friends of
Dizaei say that he described the working party as the 'Dream
Team'. Mireskandari, the SRA's most high-profile critic, might have thought so too.
Of all those who had been investigated by the SRA, Mireskandari had most to
gain from the inquiry Vaz pressed for. Could it be a coincidence that a few
weeks after the working party was set up he filed a £10million claim against the
SRA alleging racial harassment and defamation? When the Dream Team delivered a critical report last month, Mireskandari was
understandably delighted. Earlier this summer, when Ghaffur launched his race discrimination case
against the Met, Radio 4's Today programme invited two 'experts' to 'debate' the
matter. One was Vaz, the other
Dizaei. It was compared by the ultra-liberal James Naughtie who, to be fair, probably
did not know that he was simply sitting in on a chat between two of the Three
Musketeers, concerning a case being handled by the third. Certainly the listeners would not have been aware. Last night,
Dizaei insisted that he 'no recollection of meeting the
defendant'. This was described as 'rubbish' by the defendant's family. 'Dizaei would have
seen us at his wedding and recognized us,' said the sister-in-law. 'We were
there because we were invited.' Other guests recall that the man behind their presence there, Mireskandari,
gave a speech at the reception. He declared: 'Ali is my good friend. I have given him a wedding present far
better than anything else he could receive.' There was a pause, a theatrical flourish and something was held up between
finger and thumb: 'My business card!' How long a Mireskandari business card remains the 'must have' for his
cronies, or indeed anyone, is now surely a matter for the authorities. How long
Vaz's apparent poor judgment will allow him to remain chairman of the home
affairs select committee is a matter for Parliament. Whether
Dizaei can remain on duty is yet another question in the race war
which is tearing the Yard apart.
Dizaei and the crooked lawyer - The disturbing fraud links in
Scotland Yard's race war Disturbing links can be revealed today between race row
lawyer Shahrokh Mireskandari and one of
Scotland Yard's most controversial officers. The Daily Mail can show that Commander Ali
Dizaei has
been secretly advising the lawyer on how to undermine a prosecution case
being brought by his employers, the Metropolitan Police. Mireskandari, who yesterday was revealed by the Mail to
be a convicted fraudster, used
Dizaei as a consultant to point out flaws in
a death by dangerous-driving prosecution being brought by the Met against
one of the lawyer's clients.
Superintendent Ali
Dizaei, of the
Metropolitan Police, advised convicted fraudster Shahrokh Mireskandari
(right) on undermining a police case In an extraordinary breach of police rules,
Dizaei
swiftly identified elements in the case which could be exploited in a Crown
Court trial. Mireskandari has a conviction for fraud in California and
was 'awarded' his legal degree by a discredited mail order university in
Hawaii. He is the lawyer at the centre of a series of race cases
which have paralysed the Yard including the £1.2million claim brought by
Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur against Commissioner Sir
Ian Blair. He also acts for Yasmin Rehman, a senior Yard diversity
official who is preparing to launch another race claim against Sir Ian. The 47-year-old has publicly vowed to destroy Sir Ian's
'golden circle' of white officers which, he claims, resulted in Ghaffur
being sidelined because of his colour. Today we can reveal that in a tape recorded conversation
Mireskandari spelt out
Dizaei's role in the defence case. According to legal sources, he told another member of the
defence team
Dizaei would 'dissect' the prosecution case even though he
would not be able to sit in court. Last night it also emerged last year the woman defendant
in the death by dangerous driving case was a guest at
Dizaei's third wedding
reception at a West London restaurant, while she was on bail. The revelation that
Dizaei tried to undermine a case will
lead to calls for him to be investigated over his links to the lawyer. We
can also reveal today that Keith Vaz, a former Labour minister and now
chairman of the home affairs select committee, is a personal friend of the
conman. Mr. Vaz has been an enthusiastic supporter of the
lawyer's attempts to force an investigation into alleged racism by the
solicitors' watchdog. Last year Mr. Vaz wrote to the SRA complaining on behalf
of Mireskandari about the watchdog's alleged 'prejudicial and discriminatory
conduct' against his firm. Last night Mr. Vaz refused to comment. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is investigating
Mireskandari. He has responded with a £10million lawsuit against the SRA.
Our revelations have already sparked calls for Mireskandari to be suspended
pending the outcome of the probe.
Keith Vaz, MP, an enthusiastic
supporter of the lawyer's attempts to force an investigation Tory Bob Neill, a member of the Commons justice select
committee, said: 'If there is evidence of concerns about Mireskandari's
veracity and conduct then the Law Society should take action.' LibDem deputy leader Vince Cable said: 'The issue which
concerns me is that pressure has been brought to bear on the SRA. 'Not only has its chief executive Antony Townsend and his
team been threatened with legal action if they pursue their inquiries, but
also political pressure brought to bear on them too.' Last night
Dizaei, who was controversially promoted to
commander on a salary of £90,000 in March, did not deny the defendant may
have attended his wedding and did not deny acting as defence consultant. When asked why the defendant was at his wedding, he said
in a statement: 'Our wedding took place in restaurant in which other members
of the public were present. The list of the invited guests is a matter of
record.' Asked why he had met her on two other occasions, he said:
'I have no recollection of meeting the defendant.' Asked whether he had sought permission from his superiors
to act as a defence consultant in his case, he said: 'I am president of the
National Black Police Association and in that capacity I speak to many
people. 'I have no recollection of advising this defendant.'
Iranian of the Day, Shahrokh Mireskandari 17-Dec-2008
Met race row lawyer suspended as Dizaei launches new case | News
"Shahrokh
Mireskandari, who
represented former assistant commissioner
Tarique Ghaffur in his race
discrimination claim against the Met, ..." QUOTE THE lawyer at the centre of
Scotland Yard's race row has been suspended from working as a solicitor.
Shahrokh Mireskandari, who represented former assistant commissioner
Tarique Ghaffur in his race discrimination claim against the Met, has
had his Marylebone offices raided and practice closed down by investigators
from the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The 47-year-old has been under investigation by the SRA
since it emerged this year that he was a convicted fraudster and had gained
his law degree from a discredited Hawaiian "mail drop" university. His
suspension comes as one of Mr. Ghaffur's associates,
Commander Ali Dizaei, launched a new race discrimination claim against
acting commissioner
Sir Paul Stephenson and former commissioner
Sir Ian Blair. Mr.
Dizaei, president of the
National Black Police Association, was suspended this year from duty and
is accused of having an improper relationship with Mireskandari. But in
legal papers seen by the Evening Standard, Mr.
Dizaei claims that Sir Paul,
Sir Ian and Catherine Crawford, chief executive of the Metropolitan Police
Authority, conspired to remove him from his job during the race claim
brought by his friend Mr. Ghaffur. Mr.
Dizaei said that his writ, which is supported by the
BPA, is being served by the firm Mel Goldberg and Company and is due to be
lodged at a London tribunal today. Mr.
Dizaei was suspended from his £90,000-a-year job on 17
September, the main reason given being that he unlawfully arrested a man
after a row in a
Kensington restaurant. He denies any wrongdoing and has said he was
assaulted by the man. His claim focuses on what the National and Met Black
Police Association alleges is a bias in the way white officers facing
disciplinary procedures are treated. The association cites
Cressida Dick who was promoted from commander to deputy assistant
commissioner in 2006 even though she had been in charge of the operation
that led to the shooting of
Jean Charles de Menezes and an inquest was two years in the offing. Mr.
Dizaei was first suspended from the Met in 2001 over
allegations of taking bribes, using drugs and prostitutes, and even spying
for
Iran. Operation Helios, the investigation into the claims, cost
£3million and came to nothing. Scotland Yard said it was aware of the new claim but
could not comment. A spokesman said: "Whatever the allegations are they will
be dealt with in the usual way." The BPA is demanding that Mr.
Dizaei's case be made part
of
Boris Johnson's inquiry into the way race is handled by the Met. It
wants Mr. Johnson to bring the sides together to avoid a repeat of what it
called the "Ghaffur pantomime" that was said to have cost taxpayers close to
£1million, even though Ghaffur walked away with less than £300,000. Mireskandari, who publicly vowed to destroy Sir Ian and
his "golden circle" of white officers, now faces the prospect of financial
ruin following the suspension of his practice. Today SRA investigators were examining files obtained
last night from the offices of his firm Dean & Dean and returning money to
his clients. Mireskandari, who has eight days to appeal the ban, has
accused the SRA of conducting a racially motivated campaign against him and
claims he is preparing a £10 million discrimination claim against the body.
Diana Mitchell, a director for the organisation
Complaints Against Solicitors, action for Independent Adjudication (Casia),
has advised several former clients of Mireskandari who claim that he ripped
them off. Ms Mitchell, who co-ordinated a demonstration outside the
offices of Dean & Dean earlier this year, said: "Dr Mireskandari is an
extremely dishonest and greedy man. "His claims of racism are rubbish - most of his victims
are Iranian, and because some speak little English, they would trust him.
He's very plausible. "The SRA should have acted much much sooner when it came
out that he was a fraudster. Its terrible that they took so long. He had
time to visit his offices and prepare for these investigators coming in."
QUOTE
Liar, crook and friend of billionaires and royalty...
meet the lawyer who's tearing the Met apart
Lawyer: Shahrokh Mireskandari
Clients: Asst Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, left, launched a £1.2m claim against
Sir Ian Blair and Commander Ali
Dizaei who
was cleared of corruption charges in 2003, awarded £60,000 and promoted
UNQUOTE
The Mail's head line is verbatim. Are
they worried about being done for Libel? Probably not. They have the evidence of
guilt.
QUOTE
The crooked lawyer and his 'very good friend' police chief who told him how
to tear a case apart
Last summer a wedding reception was held at an Iranian restaurant in
Kensington, West London. Among those present were a number of policemen and a
trio of wealthy and rather puzzled East Europeans.
UNQUOTE
QUOTE
Race war at Scotland
Yard:
Dizaei and the crooked lawyer
UNQUOTE
He used that excuse before.
QUOTE
UK Iranian suspended from practising
Daily Mail: The bent lawyer at the centre of Scotland Yard's 'race war'
is facing ruin after being suspended from working as a solicitor. Shahrokh
Mireskandari was barred from the legal profession following exposure by the
Daily Mail as a convicted conman with dubious legal qualifications. His
offices in London's Mayfair have also been raided by investigators. The
development is a huge embarrassment for former Met Assistant Commissioner
Tarique Ghaffur, who hired Mireskandari in his controversial £1.2million
race claim against the force
>>>
UNQUOTE
Iranian of a not
very good day.
www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23603320-met-race-row-lawyer-suspended-as-dizaei-launches-new-case.do
Met race row lawyer suspended as
Dizaei launches new
case
UNQUOTE
