A Metropolitan Police officer has admitted stealing bank card details from dead people after being called out to deal with sudden deaths
Muhammed Mustafa Darr, 37, also unlawfully accessed information on computer systems.
He admitted two counts of misconduct in public office between 2018 and 2020 when he was a constable on a response unit.
Darr, of Walthamstow, east London, appeared at Southwark Crown Court wearing a brown top, grey tracksuit and trainers.
He admitted misconduct in public office, namely ‘stealing card details of the deceased’ between 19 December 2018 and 10 August 2019.
According to the charge he abused his position as a PC to ‘acquire credit and/or debit card details of deceased members of the public, which he then used to acquire free money transfers by fraud and sell on goods obtained fraudulently’.
He also admitted a second misconduct charge that stated, between 9 July 2019 and 14 September 2020 he abused his position as a PC ‘to look up on various police computer systems information relating to himself and to others without any legitimate policing purpose.’
According to DailyMail, he denied a third misconduct charge, relating to the theft of a laptop and bag from a Mercedes.
He also denied a fourth charge of perverting the course of justice, between 22 March 2020 and 6 June 2020.
The final charge alleges he ‘did a series of acts which had a tendency to pervert the course of public justice in that he used his access as a police constable to look up the progress of a police investigation which had a link to Asif Mushtaq, and then spoke to Ali Ikram and Asif Mushtaq, advising Asif Mushtaq to conceal or destroy evidence linking them to the investigation’.
Brett Weaver, prosecuting, said: ‘The prosecution would like to proceed to trial on counts three and four.’Judge Tony Baumgartner said: ‘I see the time estimate for trial is five days. I’ll fix it for 29 July next year.’If he fails to attend his trial without good reason the trial may go ahead without him.’
Darr, no longer a serving officer, was charged after an investigation was carried out by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards under the direction of the IOPC.
He remains on conditional bail ahead of his trial date on 29 July 2024.
