Crooked West Midlands Police officer drove £170k Ferrari to work
A crooked policeman who led a double-life as leader of an organised crime gang was caught after turning up for work in a flash £170,000 red Ferrari.
Osman Iqbal, aged 37, earned a modest salary as a sergeant in a team who responded to 999 calls.
But he was also the lynchpin of a mob who ripped off punters as they ran brothels and peddled class A drugs in exclusive areas of London.
One of the people he was arrested with was sauna worker Jennifer Williams, aged 30, of Furlong Lane, Cradley Heath.
She was given an 18-month suspended sentence after admitting conspiracy to manage a brothel and conspiracy to possess Class A drugs with intent to supply.
Investigations started when police colleagues raised suspicions when Iqbal arrived for work in the exclusive Ferrari 458 supercar.
An anti-corruption team then began probing his bank accounts.
Iqbal is now serving a jail sentence of seven years and two months after being imprisoned last September with seven other gang members.
He admitted conspiracy to manage a brothel, conspiracy to money launder and conspiracy to possess Class A drugs.
He was back in court on Wednesday where he faced three new charges of misconduct in a public office.
Iqbal pleaded guilty and admitted making unauthorised attempts to access police intelligence systems while serving with West Midlands police in Kings Heath.
He was remanded in custody to be sentenced later at Warwick Crown Court in Leamington Spa and has been sacked following disciplinary proceedings by West Midland Police.
A court last September heard how Iqbal was caught when the Serious and Organised Crime Unit linked him with convicted armed robber Talib Hussain, 33.
He had access to a fleet of flashy vehicles and both men and the cars were connected to two fake businesses – City Chauffeurs Ltd and Capital Event Management.
The bank accounts of the companies were being used by the pair to launder hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Police discovered the money was coming from chip and PIN machines in Covent Garden and Marylebone in London. Two properties were put under surveillance in a joint operation with the Metropolitan Police and they were identified as brothels.
Iqbal and Hussain and their associates were getting clients picked up from strip bars where they would be offered drugs and women and driven back to one of the brothels.
Once there they were overcharged on their bank cards but failed to report the crimes because of the shame of how they were scammed.
Chief Inspector Martin Brennan, from West Midlands Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said the cars and greed gave the men away.
He said: "This was a highly-organised and well-orchestrated criminal network but what makes it particularly reprehensible is that fact a serving police officer was at the centre of it all.
"Iqbal and his associates generated their income by running 'exclusive' brothels and peddling Class A drugs.
"For them, it was all about the money and the fast cars and they didn't care who they were exploiting and what laws they were breaking in the process."
His associates included Talib Hussain, 33, of Douglas Avenue, Hodge Hill, who was sentenced to eight years and four months and Atif Hussain , who was given four years and two months in jail. Both admitted conspiracy to manage a brothel, conspiracy to possess Class A drugs with intent to supply and conspiracy to money launder.
Asri Hussain, 25, of Silver Birch Close, was giben three years after admitting conspiracy to manage a brothel and conspiracy to possess Class A drugs with intent to supply.
