May 21, 2009
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News: London Investigates Police CC Misuse
A London Metropolitan Police (Met) detective was recently arrested and charged with allegedly abusing the organizations credit cards. The officer is not the first to be charged in an upsurge of complaints about police department members suspected of misusing the departments cards. The latest incident involves a Met’s Specialist Operations Officer who was arrested and questioned in connection to fraudulent use of the department’s American Express cards. The officer was released on bond Tuesday after the interrogation. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) began a massive investigation into alleged criminal activity after auditors discovered a large amount of credit card charges that were not documented. The credit cards were originally issued in 2006 to a special task force of counter terrorist detectives and officers detailed to diplomatic and royalty protection. Since that time, the total number of cards issued has grown to nearly 3,500.
The audit sparked the IPCC’s mass scrutiny into the spending habits of an entire department’s work force. Since that time, the number of incidents under investigation has grown to 35 cases involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. Previously, Deputy Assistant Commission John McDowall, a Scotland Yard anti-terror chief who was investigated for like charges was cleared of any criminal misuse of the agency’s credit cards. A second officer, Commander Ali Dizaei, is currently under investigation by the IPCC and remains on suspended duty. The investigation has lead to the conviction of Detective Sergeants John Gallagher and Richard DeCadenet. Last year Gallagher was convicted and sentenced to eight months in prison. DeCadenet pleaded guilty to charging more than $100,000 on the police department’s credit cards and spent ten months in jail.
While the scope of the fraudulent credit card activities is yet to be established, one officer awaits trial and eight others have received notification of upcoming potential charges. The IPCC intends to continue its investigation into the corruption scandal in anticipation of determining the full extent of the fraudulent activity.