Policeman sacked for claiming £29,000 in expenses

A tribunal was told the former officers actions were "deliberate and blatant acts of fraud"

A volunteer policeman has said he is "innocent" despite being sacked for claiming more than £29,000 in fraudulent expenses.

Former Metropolitan Special Constable (MPC) Ashan Malik was fired for gross misconduct on Friday.

Malik was previously convicted of fraud and money laundering in May.

Temporary assistant commissioner Amanda Pearson told a disciplinary hearing the former MPCs submitted "numerous claims" in "blatant acts of fraud".

Miss Pearson added Malik submitted expense claims below £50 to avoid arousing suspicion, eventually claiming £29,501 between August 2019 and July 2020 from his police unit in Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, and Havering, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

But a criminal investigation was triggered after the sacked officer made a claim for more than £6,000.

Malik did not attend the hearing at the Empress State Building in Earls Court saying his son had a coinciding "hospital appointment".

His Metropolitan Police Federation representative told the panel that Malik had failed to show her any proof of the appointment and stopped answering her calls in the days before the hearing.

Instead, he wrote to the disciplinary hearing to say a colleague "used his computer" to submit the expense claims which were then paid into his personal bank account.

Miss Pearson refuted this explanation as "unconvincing and unsupported by any evidence" and dismissed him without leave.

Following his conviction for fraud and money laundering, Malik was handed a two-year suspended sentence, lasting for two years, and a three-month home curfew between 9:30pm and 5am.

He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, to pay £2,600 in court costs and a £149 victim surcharge.

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]