Lawyer alleges that three Vancouver cops are being investigated for corruption

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      CBC News reporter Bethany Lindsay has reported a shocking claim made in B.C.'s highest court.

      Lawyer Marilyn Sandford alleged that three officers who were in the Vancouver Police Department's counter exploitation unit are being investigated for corruption.

      Sandford issued this declaration in a B.C. Court of Appeal hearing involving her client, Tamim Albashir. He was convicted last year in B.C. Supreme Court along with co-accused Kasra Mohsenipour in the sexual exploitation of three females, including a minor.

      Their appeals are being heard jointly with that of Reza Moazami, who's trying to get more than 20 convictions overturned. 

      The VPD has not responded to this allegation, which has not been proven in court.

      In 2015, Moazami was sentenced to nearly 18 years in prison in B.C. Supreme Court. The judge would have given him 23 years but she subtracted five years and 26 days due because Moazami spent that time in custody prior to sentencing.

      Moazami's legal team has alleged that a principal investigator, former VPD detective James Fisher, "engaged in inappropriate sexual misconduct with at least six victims and a key witness", according to a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling in June in his bail hearing.

      Fisher pleaded guilty to two counts of breach of trust and one count of sexual exploitation in 2018 after the Crown and defence filed an agreed statement of facts.

      This plea came after the Crown chose not to proceed on nine other charges against him. Fisher was sentenced to 20 months in jail.

      James Fisher received a community safety and crime prevention award from then attorney general Suzanne Anton four years before he pleaded guilty to three offences.

      In court on Wednesday (November 20), Sandford pointed out that there were only nine officers in the counter exploitation unit, according to Lindsay's report.

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