Met Police officer ‘used dead people’s savings for shopping sprees’

Muhammed Darr is also accused of interfering in a live police investigation and advising the suspect to destroy evidence
Muhammed Mustafa Darr court case
Muhammed is a former Met Police officer
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A former Metropolitan Police officer accused of using the bank details of dead people for shopping sprees has appeared in court for the first time.

Muhammed Mustafa Darr, 37, acquired the credit and debit card details of deceased people when police had been called out to a sudden death, it is said.

He allegedly used stolen money to “acquire goods or money transfers for himself or others”, Westminster magistrates court heard on Wednesday morning.

Darr, who is no longer an officer with the Met Police, is also accused of abusing his role as a PC to steal a laptop and a bag from a Mercedes and look himself up on police computer systems.

He also faces a charge of perverting the course of justice by allegedly interfering in a live police investigation.

It is said Darr “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 him to the investigation”.

Darr, wearing a large black winter coat with a red lining, appeared in the dock on Wednesday morning, as his case was sent to Southwark crown court.

He spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address, and was released on bail by District Judge Briony Clarke, with one condition of sleeping each night at his home in Walthamstow.

Darr was charged follow an investigation by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

“The charges relate to alleged offending between 2018 and 2020 when the former constable was on a response unit and relate to the misuse of police computer systems including unlawfully accessing information to notify an external party, as well as the alleged theft of items from a member of the public’s vehicle”, said the IOPC in a statement.

According to one of the charges, Darr allegedly “wilfully and without reasonable excuse or justification misconducted yourself in a way which amounted to an abuse of the public’s trust in the office holder by abusing his position as a constable to acquire credit/debit card details of deceased members of the public, which he then used to acquire or seek to acquire goods or money transfers for himself or others by fraud, and to sell on goods obtained fraudulently.”

Darr, who was based at the Met’s North Area Basic Command Unit, is due to next appear at Southwark crown court on May 24.

He did not formally enter any pleas.

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