Fabregas Posted December 22, 2007 Wednesday, 5th December 2007 Bent Solicitor Jailed For 14 Years A bent solicitor was given the longest ever jail sentence for a corrupt lawyer today for his role at the heart of an multi-million pound gang of gun and drug dealers. Naveen Sagar, 32, who believed he was "untouchable", looked close to tears as he was sentenced to 14-and-a-half years behind bars. Porsche-driving Sagar concocted false alibis, provided bogus witnesses to help a vicious mob of Somalian gangsters led by Ahmed Osman Hersi continue to operate peddling millions of pounds worth of heroin and crack cocaine. The slick solicitor, wearing designer suits, provided defences for the gang which forced the police to allow them back onto the street after they were found with tens of thousands of pounds of cash from drugs deals. Sagar even tried to frame detectives with false corruption claims to try and force charges against gang members to be dropped. Today as a judge told Sagar his s corruption "struck at the core of criminal justice system" detectives revealed they now plan to seize assets worth more than £1 million which Sagar ploughed into property. Judge Fergus Mitchell, sitting at Kingston Crown Court, said he had to treat Sagar as if he were himself a drug dealer. He said: "I have to bear in mind the sort of person with whom you were associating and whom you were assisting. You prepared defences for Hersi and his associates and as a result their criminal enterprises were assisted and indeed promoted and allowed to continue by your actions. "These offences are so serious that if you had not pleaded guilty they would have attracted a sentence of 18 years." Sagar, who pleaded guilty, was jailed for 13 years to be served concurrently on each of three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He was sentenced to another four months for contempt of court after he took a photo of an Old Bailey jury in an attempted murder case in which he represented the defendant. In addition, the judge added another 18 months to run consecutively for a fraud on the Legal Services Commission for fictitious interpreters fees. The judge added: "The public on the whole trust solicitors who are admitted to the Rolls of Offices of the Supreme Court. "You undoubtedly have contributed to a reduction of that confidence. What you did struck at the core of the criminal justice system. It undermined the police and the courts." Sagar - described by detectives as "one of the most arrogant people you could ever meet" - played a "pivotal role" in the gang run by Hersi, who wore a £45,000 watch and hobnobbed with Premiership footballers. The crooked solicitor, whose Porsche 911 sports car had a personalised number plate, lived in luxury and bought a string of houses off the back of Hersi's criminal network. Hersi first came to the attention of police when he was involve din a road rage incident with a bus driver and officers found £32,000 of cash in the boot of his Mercedes. Sagar appeared at the police station with a witness who claimed the cash was his and although the money was covered in heroin residues police had to return the cash. On another occasion in April 2005 Sagar again got his pal Hersi out of jail when he was arrested riding erratically on a high-powered motorbike. Just hours later, the gangster, who wore an ostentatious Frank Muller watch, took a Chauffeur-driven limo to the swanky Penthouse Suite Club near Leicester Square where he rubbed shoulders with stars at a glitzy party following the Professional Football Association's annual dinner. But he broke off from the shindig for a gun deal to buy two lethal 'spray and pray' Mac 10 machine pistols, which he stored in the limo's boot and returned to the party. Police stopped the car and later traced the guns back to Hersi. When detectives finally closed in on the gang after a three year investigation, Sagar tried an audacious sting involving a planted witness, secret recording devices and sophisticated editing software in an effort to make the police appear corrupt and have charges dropped. But the plan failed and eventually Hersi, who is thought to have squirreled away millions of pounds in offshore accounts, turned supergrass and helped convict several members of his gang. When he was arrested Sagar, from Wembley, north west London, had more than £85,000 in cash under his bed and a scanner to listen in to police radio traffic. Detective Constable Greg Woodcock, of the Met team that nailed the mob, said: "Naveen Sagar played a pivotal role in Hersi's operations and constructed elaborate delaying tactics to undermine police investigations. "Sagar is one of the most arrogant people you could ever meet. He would turn up in his Porsche and breeze into the police station in a flashy suit as if he owned the place. "I think he felt he was untouchable, but now he has lost it all." Detective Chief Inspector Peter Beyer said: "We are seeking to seize assets from Sagar worth more than £1 million. We know he put a lot of the money he made from this into properties he rented out. "It is unusual for a solicitor to be convicted of such serious crimes, but he was working for a long period of time in partnership with some very serious organised criminals. "My team are extremely pleased with the sentence which we hope will send a message to other people in positions of responsibility." Copyright © 2007 Global News Feeds +44(0)207 684 3000 http://www.bignewsday.com/story.asp?..._for_14_years_ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chimera Posted December 22, 2007 what a fool, i bet he could make the same kind of money legally from 2007 till 2021(his jail time) if he simply had some patience and used his head a good lawyer could make 500k a year multiply that x 14 and you have 7million$ - 1million$(probably his expenditures over a period of 14 years) and you have 6million$ + a LIFE + a beautiful wife + children and no stress or fear of getting caught 3 years of living the high life is not worth it and when he comes out in 2021 he will have no job no life no nothing, what a waste! same goes for those youth Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fabregas Posted December 22, 2007 http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_7120000/newsid_7129800?redirect=7129833.s tm&news=1&nbwm=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1 video http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7129017.stm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
