Last week, the B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed a former Vancouver pimp's application for bail as he appeals more than two dozen convictions for sex and prostitution-related offences.

It means that Reza Moazami will remain behind bars to continue serving a sentence of 20 years and 339 days.

Were he to win his appeals, however, this could seriously tarnish the reputation of the Vancouver Police Department.

That's because Moazami is alleging that one of the principal investigators in his case, former VPD detective Jim Fisher, "engaged in inappropriate sexual misconduct with at least six of the victims and another key witness", according to the recent B.C. Court of Appeal ruling.

Moreover, Moazami is alleging that "during and after the prostitution trial [Fisher] engaged in inappropriate other serious and possibly criminal misconduct with 10 of the 11 victims and another key witness".

Justice David Frankel's decision in the bail application points out that Moazami's appeals are rooted in an argument that Fisher's actions "amount to state misconduct".

Moazami claims that this "prejudiced his right to a fair trial or, alternatively, undermined the integrity of the judicial process".

"The Crown's position is that Mr. Moazami's allegations are vague and unfocused," wrote Frankel. "It notes the Fisher-related disclosure material contains statements from three of the victim witnesses and one other key witness at the prostitution trial, all of whom say Mr. Fisher did not ask them to lie or change their evidence."

Frankel added this point: "The Crown also notes that in his testimony at the prostitution trial, Mr. Moazami admitted he was involved in prostitution and had sexual relations with his victims."

Therefore, even if Moazami's allegations were to be substantiated, "the possibility of his achieving blanket success is remote", according to the Crown.

On November 10, 2015, Moazami was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court to nearly 18 years in prison.

The judge, Catherine Bruce, would have given him 23 years but she subtracted five years and 26 days due to Moazami's time in custody before being sentenced.

The following year, he was convicted of obstruction of justice and breaching a court order prohibiting him from communicating directly or indirectly with one of his victims. That added another three years to Moazami's prison sentence.

In 2018, Fisher pleaded guilty to two counts of breach of trust and one count of sexual exploitation in connection with his work investigating Moazami. The former VPD detective was sentenced to 20 months in jail.

Fisher honoured for police work

Three years earlier, Fisher was named along with other officers for a chief constable unit citation for their dedication in obtaining Moazami's convictions.

Fisher also received a community safety and crime prevention award from then justice minister Suzanne Anton for his work as lead investigator in the Moazami case.

Here are some questions that could conceivably come up in the appeal:

* At what point did the VPD become aware that Fisher's conduct was outside the bounds of what a police officer should be doing?

* Were any decisions made to apply for or to grant Fisher or his unit awards notwithstanding information that might have come to the VPD's attention about Fisher's conduct?

* Was the Crown aware of all of the allegations against Fisher contained in VPD files when it submitted an agreed statement of facts with the defence prior to Fisher being sentenced in Provincial Court?

* Why would the agreed statement of facts submitted in court in Fisher's criminal case only lay out two counts of breach of trust and one count of sexual exploitation? The Crown's disclosures to Moazami's defence team allegedly indicated "inappropriate sexual misconduct with at least six of the victims and another key witness" and "inappropriate other serious and possibly criminal misconduct with 10 of the 11 victims and another key witness".

Fisher was originally charged with six offences on December 29, 2016, more than a year after Moazami received his lengthy prison sentence.

On May 19, 2017, three more charges were laid against Fisher. Then on March 27, 2018, three more charges were added.

In return for a guilty plea, Fisher ended up being convicted on only three counts.

In effect, Fisher did not agree to the other allegations, which are central to Moazami's appeal and which were allegedly disclosed to his defence team.

The chief constable's citation to Fisher as part of the counter exploitation unit was awarded in January 2015 while Jim Chu was chief.

"The investigation revealed a man who was forcefully recruiting girls as young as 14, burning them with cigarettes to control them with fear, moving them between cities to keep them isolated and drug-addicted, and forcing them to service several clients a day, seven days a week," former chief Chu's unit citation reads.

"Over the years, the Unit developed rapport and trust with the victims, executed six separate search warrants, obtained hundreds of credit card and banking records, and conducted more than 30 interviews," the unit citation continues. "Their efforts and dedication led them to a bawdy house, where they were able to free some victims and arrest the man who was their pimp. Eventually, he was convicted on 29 counts involving a total of 11 victims, ranging in age from 14 to 19 years old."

Chu was succeeded several months later by Adam Palmer, who remains chief of the Vancouver Police Department.