Police officers were fired for allegedly turning a “blind eye” to signs her husband was responsible for stealing stacks of cash from a criminal gang, Scotland Yard said.
The Met police fired PC Inga Gherghel without notice after a misconduct hearing that ended on June 30, in which it was found that gross misconduct had been proven.
This comes after her husband Ioan Gherghel (36) from Stratford, East London, was jailed for six years in May 2021 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to obtain criminal property.
He was one of six people – including former Met police officer Kashif Mahmood – who were sentenced after admitting a series of offenses following a wider Met investigation.
The misconduct panel, led by an independent legally qualified chairman, heard evidence about the arrest of Pc Gherghel’s husband on April 28, 2020.
A search of the couple’s home found an MPS MetVest – power-issued body weapons – in a cupboard, but it was not issued to Pc Gherghel.
A shoebox with more than £ 10,000 in cash was also discovered in a bedroom wardrobe.
The trial found that Pc Gherghel was aware of these items and “deliberately failed to inquire further about the origin or purpose of the items and about what one of them might be doing in her apartment”, the Met said.
Commander Marcus Barnett, in charge of policing at the Central East Command, said: “It is the duty of any police officer to report crime to the police and Pc Gherghel has turned a blind eye to the actions of her husband. .
“It was exacerbated by the fact that a MetVest was found at her house that was not issued to her.
“As the investigation shows, we are determined to eradicate officers in the Met who do not show the right qualities and we will prosecute them and dismiss them from our power.”
Pc Gherghel will now be added to the banned list kept by the College of Policing, a professional body for the police in England and Wales.
Those on the list cannot be employed by the police, local policing bodies (PCCs), the Independent Office of Police Conduct or Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
The infamous former officer Mahmood, of Woodcroft, in Harlow, Essex, was 32 when he was jailed for eight years in May after admitting he conspired to obtain criminal property and misconduct in public office.
He used his position in power to help an organized gang seize money from other criminals, the court heard.
He dressed in his uniform and used marked and unmarked police cars to travel to places where the gang knew that “significant amounts of criminal cash” would be exchanged, and took it himself while pretending to do his duties. jurors said.
The court heard he was a member of the “highly profitable” operation which seized at least £ 850,000 from criminal couriers under the pretext of a “lawful exercise of his powers”.
There is no suggestion that PC Gherghel committed any crimes.