Mazher Mahmood
Encyclopedia
Mazher Mahmood is an undercover reporter
with The Sunday Times newspaper. He previously spent 20 years working for the defunct British
tabloid newspaper News of the World
. He has been dubbed as "Britain’s most notorious undercover reporter."
News of the World claimed he has brought over 250 criminals to justice. He often poses and disguises himself as a sheikh
in order to gain his target's trust, and is also known as the Fake sheikh. In September 2008, he wrote a book entitled Confessions of a Fake Sheik – The King Of The Sting Reveals All published by Harper Collins.
, on 22 March 1963, the second of two sons of Sultan and Shamim Mahmood, journalists who arrived from Pakistan
three years earlier.
Mahmood's only face-to-face televised interview was with the BBC
's Emily Maitlis
, on the Andrew Marr Show
in 2008,.
at the Metropole Hotel at the National Exhibition Centre
, Birmingham
, while working with fellow journalist Roger Insall, he first used the "Fake Sheikh" disguise to entice prostitutes to a hotel room.
He then worked for The Sunday Times
, which according to the International Herald Tribune
he joined in 1989. Then managing editor Roy Greenslade
reported that Mahmood was dismissed for an attempted cover-up of an error he had made. Mahmood has always disputed Greenslade's version of event. Mahmood then briefly worked as a producer on the TV-am
programme of David Frost
, and joined the News of the World in 1991. He is currently employed as an investigative journalist with The Sunday Times.
offices. Written into Mahmood's contract was a clause stating that his photograph would never be published in the newspaper. If he featured in photos that accompanied his stories, his face was always concealed and a silhouette used next to his byline.
During his investigations, as well as the "Fake Sheikh", Mahmood also uses the identity of businessman Sam Fernando. He is often accompanied by a bodyguard
, said to be his second cousin Mahmood Qureshi, who often poses as businessman Pervaiz Khan. Conrad Brown, the son of former NoW reporter Gerry Brown, operates the concealed video cameras and microphones.
The News of the World paid his £120,000-a-year salary, plus an editorial and technical support budget which included a dedicated technical support crew, his two bodyguards, and essential props, including: luxury hotel suites; private jets; limousines; and fees paid to informants.
and politician George Galloway
are both critics, while lawyers have argued that Mahmood's conduct, backed by the editorial policy of the News of the World, deliberately involves serious breaches of the law of England and Wales.
In 1999, after a Mahmood investigation exposed the Earl of Hardwicke
and another man as drug dealers, the jury sent a note to the judge explaining that they had reached their decision to convict the two men with great reluctance. They said that they would have acquitted the defendants if the law had enabled them to take into account the "extreme provocation" they had been under to sell cocaine to Mahmood. The judge agreed and passed suspended sentence
s.
"Reporter of the Year" 1999 for his exposé of Newcastle United directors. At the awards ceremony, a figure attired in full sheikh's outfit, with the face covered, went up to collect the award. The attire was then thrown off to reveal Kelvin Mackenzie
, former editor of The Sun.
He won Reporter of the Year again in 2011 as well as Scoop of the Year for his cricket match fixing investigation. He also picked up the Sports Journalists Association award in 2011 for the same story.
claimed that Mahmood and an accomplice "sought to implicate me in what would be illegal political funding and sought my agreement to anti-Semitic views, including Holocaust denial". Galloway wrote to the Metropolitan police
force commissioner, Sir Ian Blair
, and the Speaker of the House of Commons about the incident, saying: "I believe this attempt to subvert the political process constitutes a breach of parliamentary privilege
". In his letter to the Speaker's office Galloway also claimed that Mahmood had in the past deceived Diane Abbott
and had sought a meeting with Jeremy Corbyn
, both also prominent anti-war MPs. The News of the World tried to secure a High Court
injunction preventing publication of photographs of Mahmood, even on weblogs, but were granted only a temporary injunction, which expired on 7 April 2006. Galloway sought to thwart this tactic by brandishing a photograph of Mahmood, during an interview on Channel 4
news.
, who resigned following his affair with actress Antonia de Sancha
. Environment Minister Tim Yeo
was caught cheating on his wife, and both his secret love child with Julia Stent and his earlier adopted daughter were revealed.
officials and police officers; solicitors and crooked doctors have also been targets.
, with the judge criticising the News of the World for not checking the credibility of the story before printing.
, who mocked fans and branded Geordie
women "dogs" after taking Mahmood posing as the fake sheikh to a brothel in Marbella
.
Footballer John Barnes
was caught by Mahmood twice cheating on his wife with two different lovers, and Ian Wright
was also caught having an affair. Footballer John Fashanu
was exposed for match fixing. Fashanu offered to fix matches for Mahmood and took a cash deposit. After being exposed, Fashanu claimed he knew about the sting all along, and was going along to gather evidence for the police.
In January 2006, Mahmood met up with England
head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson
, posing as a businessman interested in opening a sports academy, but Eriksson asked him to take over Aston Villa FC instead. Eriksson revealed how he would leave England after the World Cup to become Aston Villa manager, and that he would approach David Beckham
from Real Madrid
to become captain. On 23 January, the Football Association
announced that Eriksson would leave his job after the 2006 FIFA World Cup
, and it was thought that the News of the World allegations played a part in this decision. This was later denied by both parties, with Eriksson explaining that there was a prior arrangement to terminate his contract immediately after the World Cup.
On 28 March 2010, Mahmood exposed former world champion boxer Joe Calzaghe
for taking cocaine
. The boxer and Strictly Come Dancing
contestant came clean after being caught red handed in a sting, vowing to seek help for his drug problems.
In May 2010, Mahmood exposed World Snooker Champion John Higgins and his agent Pat Mooney for apparently agreeing to fix the outcome of future individual frames which would not necessarily alter the course of a match. Meeting in a hotel room in Kiev
, Ukraine
on the morning of Friday 30 April, where Higgins and his manager had travelled after his exit from the 2010 World Championship, to ostensibly meet the undercover News of the World team the newspaper described as men posing as businessmen interested in organising a series of events linked to the World Series of Snooker
. In video, it is alleged that Higgins and Mooney had agreed to throw four frames in four separate tournaments in exchange for a €300,000 total payment. On the publication of the story on Sunday 2 May, Barry Hearn
, Chairman of the WPBSA, immediately suspended Higgins from WPBSA tournaments, promising a full investigation, stating "Those responsible, if proved, will be dealt with in a very harsh and brutal way. People have a right to see pure sport – that's what I want snooker to be." Mooney resigned from his post as director of the WPBSA. Higgins subsequently issued a statement denying he had ever been involved in match fixing, and said of the meeting, "I didn't know if this was the Russian mafia
or who we were dealing with. At that stage I felt the best course of action was just to play along with these guys and get out of Russia
". Mooney also said "we were genuinely in fear for our safety".
who claimed Pakistani cricketers Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt
and Kamran Akmal
had committed spot-fixing
during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England; the team was accused of deliberately bowling three no-balls, in an incident that veteran Richie Benaud
described as the most distressing revelation in his 52 years of watching cricket.
in 2010.
was supplying cocaine
, for which he was imprisoned. Alford claimed entrapment and demanded Mahmood's arrest. The trial judge observed that "entrapment had clearly played a significant part in what he did, but greed had also been a major factor." However, when Alford appealed to the High Court and the European Court of Human Rights
, the appeals were rejected.
Other celebrity targets exposed for drugs have included model Sophie Anderton
who was exposed by Mahmood as a drug-taking prostitute.
to the police. The subsequent trial collapsed after it emerged that Mahmood's main informant, Florim Gashi had been paid £10,000 and could not be considered a reliable witness, and was later deported from the UK. Judge Simon Smith referred the News of the Worlds role in the affair to the Attorney General. One of the men involved later sued the News of the World for libel but lost.
through the supply of the fictitious substance red mercury
to three men from a supposed terrorist group. Mahmood was registered as an informant
for the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch
during the story, which led to a criminal case prosecution by the Crown Prosecution Service
. The case, signed off by the Attorney General
, collapsed in July 2006.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
with The Sunday Times newspaper. He previously spent 20 years working for the defunct British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
tabloid newspaper News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
. He has been dubbed as "Britain’s most notorious undercover reporter."
News of the World claimed he has brought over 250 criminals to justice. He often poses and disguises himself as a sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
in order to gain his target's trust, and is also known as the Fake sheikh. In September 2008, he wrote a book entitled Confessions of a Fake Sheik – The King Of The Sting Reveals All published by Harper Collins.
Background
Mazher Mahmood has a British Pakistani background; he was born in Small Heath, BirminghamSmall Heath, Birmingham
Small Heath is an inner-city area within the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is situated on and around the A45 ....
, on 22 March 1963, the second of two sons of Sultan and Shamim Mahmood, journalists who arrived from Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
three years earlier.
Mahmood's only face-to-face televised interview was with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Emily Maitlis
Emily Maitlis
Emily Maitlis is a Canadian-born British journalist and newsreader, currently employed by the BBC.-Career:Raised in Sheffield, she was educated at the local King Edward VII School...
, on the Andrew Marr Show
Andrew Marr
Andrew William Stevenson Marr is a Scottish journalist and political commentator. He edited The Independent for two years until May 1998, and was political editor of BBC News from 2000 until 2005....
in 2008,.
Career
Mahmood got his first job as a journalist aged 18, exposing family friends who sold pirate videos. This gained him two weeks work at the News of the World, after which he started freelancing at the Sunday People. In 1984, while trying to expose a vice-ringProstitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
at the Metropole Hotel at the National Exhibition Centre
National Exhibition Centre
The National Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International railway station. It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 628 acres making it the...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, while working with fellow journalist Roger Insall, he first used the "Fake Sheikh" disguise to entice prostitutes to a hotel room.
He then worked for The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
, which according to the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
he joined in 1989. Then managing editor Roy Greenslade
Roy Greenslade
Roy Greenslade is Professor of Journalism at City University London and has been a media commentator since 1992, most notably for The Guardian....
reported that Mahmood was dismissed for an attempted cover-up of an error he had made. Mahmood has always disputed Greenslade's version of event. Mahmood then briefly worked as a producer on the TV-am
TV-am
TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...
programme of David Frost
David Frost
Sir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
, and joined the News of the World in 1991. He is currently employed as an investigative journalist with The Sunday Times.
Methodology
Mahmood works secretively, rarely going into the News InternationalNews International
News International Ltd is the United Kingdom newspaper publishing division of News Corporation. Until June 2002, it was called News International plc....
offices. Written into Mahmood's contract was a clause stating that his photograph would never be published in the newspaper. If he featured in photos that accompanied his stories, his face was always concealed and a silhouette used next to his byline.
During his investigations, as well as the "Fake Sheikh", Mahmood also uses the identity of businessman Sam Fernando. He is often accompanied by a bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
, said to be his second cousin Mahmood Qureshi, who often poses as businessman Pervaiz Khan. Conrad Brown, the son of former NoW reporter Gerry Brown, operates the concealed video cameras and microphones.
The News of the World paid his £120,000-a-year salary, plus an editorial and technical support budget which included a dedicated technical support crew, his two bodyguards, and essential props, including: luxury hotel suites; private jets; limousines; and fees paid to informants.
Criticism
Although Mahmood has helped to expose crime, many find the way he does it both morally and ethically distasteful. His former boss Roy GreensladeRoy Greenslade
Roy Greenslade is Professor of Journalism at City University London and has been a media commentator since 1992, most notably for The Guardian....
and politician George Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
are both critics, while lawyers have argued that Mahmood's conduct, backed by the editorial policy of the News of the World, deliberately involves serious breaches of the law of England and Wales.
In 1999, after a Mahmood investigation exposed the Earl of Hardwicke
Joseph Yorke, 10th Earl of Hardwicke
Joseph Philip Sebastian Yorke, 10th Earl of Hardwicke is a Conservative hereditary Peer.Yorke was born on 3 February 1971 and succeeded to the title at the age of three, at the death of his grandfather, Philip Grantham Yorke, 9th Earl of Hardwicke on 31 December 1974; his father, Philip Yorke,...
and another man as drug dealers, the jury sent a note to the judge explaining that they had reached their decision to convict the two men with great reluctance. They said that they would have acquitted the defendants if the law had enabled them to take into account the "extreme provocation" they had been under to sell cocaine to Mahmood. The judge agreed and passed suspended sentence
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...
s.
Awards
Mahmood has picked up various industry awards, including British Press AwardsBritish Press Awards
The British Press Awards is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. Established in the 1970s, honours are voted on by a panel of journalists and newspaper executives...
"Reporter of the Year" 1999 for his exposé of Newcastle United directors. At the awards ceremony, a figure attired in full sheikh's outfit, with the face covered, went up to collect the award. The attire was then thrown off to reveal Kelvin Mackenzie
Kelvin MacKenzie
Kelvin Calder MacKenzie is an English media executive and former newspaper editor. He is best known for being editor of The Sun newspaper between 1981 and 1994, an era in which the paper was established as Britain's best selling newspaper.- Biography :MacKenzie was educated at Alleyn's School...
, former editor of The Sun.
He won Reporter of the Year again in 2011 as well as Scoop of the Year for his cricket match fixing investigation. He also picked up the Sports Journalists Association award in 2011 for the same story.
George Galloway
On 30 March 2006, the politician George GallowayGeorge Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
claimed that Mahmood and an accomplice "sought to implicate me in what would be illegal political funding and sought my agreement to anti-Semitic views, including Holocaust denial". Galloway wrote to the Metropolitan police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
force commissioner, Sir Ian Blair
Ian Blair
Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, QPM is a retired British Police officer who held the position of commissioner of police of the metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was the highest ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service.On 2 October 2008 Blair announced that he would...
, and the Speaker of the House of Commons about the incident, saying: "I believe this attempt to subvert the political process constitutes a breach of parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made related to one's duties as a legislator. It is common in countries whose constitutions are...
". In his letter to the Speaker's office Galloway also claimed that Mahmood had in the past deceived Diane Abbott
Diane Abbott
Diane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons...
and had sought a meeting with Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Islington North since 1983.-Early and personal life:...
, both also prominent anti-war MPs. The News of the World tried to secure a High Court
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice is, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, one of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
injunction preventing publication of photographs of Mahmood, even on weblogs, but were granted only a temporary injunction, which expired on 7 April 2006. Galloway sought to thwart this tactic by brandishing a photograph of Mahmood, during an interview on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
news.
Dalliances
Political targets of Mahmood's investigations have included Minister David MellorDavid Mellor
David John Mellor, QC is a British politician, non-practising barrister, broadcaster, journalist and football pundit. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister John Major as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Secretary of State for National Heritage , before...
, who resigned following his affair with actress Antonia de Sancha
Antonia de Sancha
Antonia de Sancha is an actress and businesswoman known to have had an affair with British Conservative Member of Parliament and Cabinet member David Mellor in 1992...
. Environment Minister Tim Yeo
Tim Yeo
Timothy Stephen Kenneth Yeo is an English Conservative politician, Member of Parliament for South Suffolk and the current Chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee.-Early life:...
was caught cheating on his wife, and both his secret love child with Julia Stent and his earlier adopted daughter were revealed.
Immigration
He has repeatedly entered the UK in the back of lorries using fake passports to highlight lax immigration rules. Corrupt Home OfficeHome Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
officials and police officers; solicitors and crooked doctors have also been targets.
September 2004 terrorist plot
In September 2004, he posed as a Muslim extremist to "expose" three men who were trying to buy radioactive material for a suspected Muslim terrorist group seeking to carry out attacks in the United Kingdom. The men were later found not guilty following a trial at the Old BaileyOld Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
, with the judge criticising the News of the World for not checking the credibility of the story before printing.
Sports celebrity targets
Mahmood won the "Reporter of the Year" award in 1999 for his exposé of Newcastle United bosses Freddie Shepherd and Douglas HallDouglas Hall
Douglas Hall is a scientist who works in the field of fiber optics. He introduced the Erbium doped fiber amplifier to common usage. Hall is known as Corning Inc.'s "One Billion dollar man".-References:...
, who mocked fans and branded Geordie
Geordie
Geordie is a regional nickname for a person from the Tyneside region of the north east of England, or the name of the English-language dialect spoken by its inhabitants...
women "dogs" after taking Mahmood posing as the fake sheikh to a brothel in Marbella
Marbella
Marbella is a town in Andalusia, Spain. It is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in the province of Málaga, beneath the La Concha mountain. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234, in 2010 approximately 135,000....
.
Footballer John Barnes
John Barnes (footballer)
John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE is an English football manager and former player.During his playing career, Barnes had successful periods at Watford and Liverpool in the 1980s and 1990s, winning the First Division twice, the FA Cup twice, and playing for England 79 times...
was caught by Mahmood twice cheating on his wife with two different lovers, and Ian Wright
Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright, MBE is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major...
was also caught having an affair. Footballer John Fashanu
John Fashanu
John "Fash" Fashanu is a British television presenter and ex-footballer of Nigerian and Guyanese descent. In his former career, he was a centre-forward, who scored 134 league goals in a career lasting 17 years...
was exposed for match fixing. Fashanu offered to fix matches for Mahmood and took a cash deposit. After being exposed, Fashanu claimed he knew about the sting all along, and was going along to gather evidence for the police.
In January 2006, Mahmood met up with England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
, posing as a businessman interested in opening a sports academy, but Eriksson asked him to take over Aston Villa FC instead. Eriksson revealed how he would leave England after the World Cup to become Aston Villa manager, and that he would approach David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
from Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
to become captain. On 23 January, the Football Association
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
announced that Eriksson would leave his job after the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
, and it was thought that the News of the World allegations played a part in this decision. This was later denied by both parties, with Eriksson explaining that there was a prior arrangement to terminate his contract immediately after the World Cup.
On 28 March 2010, Mahmood exposed former world champion boxer Joe Calzaghe
Joe Calzaghe
Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE, MBE is a Welsh former professional boxer. He is the former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring & British super middleweight champion and The Ring light heavyweight champion....
for taking cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. The boxer and Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
contestant came clean after being caught red handed in a sting, vowing to seek help for his drug problems.
In May 2010, Mahmood exposed World Snooker Champion John Higgins and his agent Pat Mooney for apparently agreeing to fix the outcome of future individual frames which would not necessarily alter the course of a match. Meeting in a hotel room in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
on the morning of Friday 30 April, where Higgins and his manager had travelled after his exit from the 2010 World Championship, to ostensibly meet the undercover News of the World team the newspaper described as men posing as businessmen interested in organising a series of events linked to the World Series of Snooker
World Series of Snooker
The Sportingbet.com World Series of Snooker was a series of invitational snooker tournaments set up as a complement to the WPBSA's tour Its first season was played in 2008/2009, consisting of four two-day tournaments in St...
. In video, it is alleged that Higgins and Mooney had agreed to throw four frames in four separate tournaments in exchange for a €300,000 total payment. On the publication of the story on Sunday 2 May, Barry Hearn
Barry Hearn
Barry Hearn is an English sporting events promoter, and the founder and chairman of promotions company Matchroom Sport. He is currently the chairman of Leyton Orient F.C., and the Professional Darts Corporation and was also until July 2010 chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker...
, Chairman of the WPBSA, immediately suspended Higgins from WPBSA tournaments, promising a full investigation, stating "Those responsible, if proved, will be dealt with in a very harsh and brutal way. People have a right to see pure sport – that's what I want snooker to be." Mooney resigned from his post as director of the WPBSA. Higgins subsequently issued a statement denying he had ever been involved in match fixing, and said of the meeting, "I didn't know if this was the Russian mafia
Russian Mafia
The Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
or who we were dealing with. At that stage I felt the best course of action was just to play along with these guys and get out of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
". Mooney also said "we were genuinely in fear for our safety".
Pakistan cricket spot-fixing controversy
Mahmood's name came under the limelight once again when, in August 2010, he posed as an Indian businessman to expose a cricket bookie by the name of Mazhar MajeedMazhar Majeed
Mazhar Majeed is a British Pakistani sporting agent and bookmaker who came under police investigation in 2010 following reports of cricket 'match fixing' after a News of the World sting operation. On Saturday August 28, 2010, he was arrested by the Scotland Yard for allegedly fixing a Test match...
who claimed Pakistani cricketers Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, Salman Butt
Salman Butt
Salman Butt is a former Pakistani cricketer who was a regular Test and ODI left-handed opening batsman. He made his Test debut on 3 September 2003 in the third Test against Bangladesh, and a year later made his ODI debut against West Indies on 22 September 2004. He was appointed captain of the...
and Kamran Akmal
Kamran Akmal
Kamran Akmal is a Pakistani cricketer who has played Tests, ODIs and T20Is for Pakistan as a wicket-keeper.- International career :He is a quick-scoring batsman and a wicket-keeper, who has achieved 6 centuries in Test innings...
had committed spot-fixing
Spot-fixing
Spot-fixing refers to illegal activity in a sport where a specific part of a game is fixed. Examples include something as minor as timing a no ball or wide delivery in cricket or timing the first throw-in or corner in association football. Spot-fixing attempts to defraud bookmakers illegally by...
during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England; the team was accused of deliberately bowling three no-balls, in an incident that veteran Richie Benaud
Richie Benaud
Richard "Richie" Benaud OBE is a former Australian cricketer who, since his retirement from international cricket in 1964, has become a highly regarded commentator on the game....
described as the most distressing revelation in his 52 years of watching cricket.
Royal targets
Mahmood's targets include various society figures, including Sophie, Countess of Wessex in 2001 and more recently Sarah, Duchess of YorkSarah, Duchess of York
Sarah, Duchess of York is a British charity patron, spokesperson, writer, film producer, television personality and former member of the British Royal Family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, whom she married from 1986 to 1996...
in 2010.
Drugs
Mahmood reported the revelations that John AlfordJohn Alford (actor)
John Alford is a Scottish-born English actor.-Career:Alford attend Anna Scher's stage school from age 11 in London, alongside future EastEnders stars Sid Owen and Patsy Palmer....
was supplying cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, for which he was imprisoned. Alford claimed entrapment and demanded Mahmood's arrest. The trial judge observed that "entrapment had clearly played a significant part in what he did, but greed had also been a major factor." However, when Alford appealed to the High Court and the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
, the appeals were rejected.
Other celebrity targets exposed for drugs have included model Sophie Anderton
Sophie Anderton
Sophie Anderton is an English model and reality television personality.-Early life:Anderton attended Redland High School for Girls in Bristol between 1988 and 1993...
who was exposed by Mahmood as a drug-taking prostitute.
Plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham
In 2003, Mahmood was responsible for reporting an alleged plot to kidnap Victoria BeckhamVictoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
to the police. The subsequent trial collapsed after it emerged that Mahmood's main informant, Florim Gashi had been paid £10,000 and could not be considered a reliable witness, and was later deported from the UK. Judge Simon Smith referred the News of the Worlds role in the affair to the Attorney General. One of the men involved later sued the News of the World for libel but lost.
Dirty bomb
In 2004, Mahmood led an investigation into exposing the creation of a dirty bombDirty bomb
A dirty bomb is a speculative radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the explosion with radioactive material, hence the attribute "dirty"....
through the supply of the fictitious substance red mercury
Red mercury
Red mercury is a 19th-century term for protiodide or iodide of mercury. It was commonly recommended for use as an antisyphilitic as late as 1913, most notably during the early years of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments. Taken orally, it caused hematemesis...
to three men from a supposed terrorist group. Mahmood was registered as an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
for the Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch
Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch
The Anti-Terrorist Branch was a Specialist Operations branch of London's Metropolitan Police Service, formed to respond to terrorist activities within the capital....
during the story, which led to a criminal case prosecution by the Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
. The case, signed off by the Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
, collapsed in July 2006.
External links
- BBC News Story on Mazher Mahmood
- BBC News Story - Is this the end for the 'Fake Sheik'? - 25 July 2006
- Mazher Mahmood activity against illegal immigrants in May 2006
- Copy of the legal injunction sent to a blog owner in the UK barring the publication of Mahmood's picture
- Alleged picture of Mahmood on George Galloway's personal website