Mazher Mahmood (born 22 March 1963) is a British journalist who was convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Before his conviction, he worked mainly for the tabloid press. He spent 20 years working for the News of the World and the Sunday Times, during which time he was responsible for numerous investigations, including a reputed 94 that led to convictions. He won Reporter of the Year in 2011, as well as Scoop of the Year and the Sports Journalists' Association award, for an investigation of cricket match-fixing. Later, from its foundation in 2012, he worked for the Sun on Sunday, successor to the News of the World.
Mahmood became known popularly as the "fake sheikh" because he often posed as a sheikh during the course of his investigations. In addition to numerous highly regarded public-interest investigations, he attracted allegations of breaking the law without any clear public-interest justification, including several episodes in which he was accused of entrapment.
In July 2014, Mahmood was suspended from the Sun on Sunday after a trial collapsed against former X Factor judge and singer Tulisa, with concerns voiced by a judge that Mahmood might have perjured himself. In October 2016, Mahmood was jailed for 15 months after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Background and career Mazher Mahmood was born in Small Heath, Birmingham, on 22 March 1963, the second of two sons of Sultan and Shamim Mahmood, journalists from Pakistan who had come to Britain three years earlier.
Mahmood first gained employment as a journalist at the age of 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 with fellow journalist Roger Insall to expose a vice-ring at the Metropole Hotel at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, according to Mahmood, he first used the sheikh disguise when inviting prostitutes to a hotel room.
Mahmood then worked for the Sunday Times, which he joined in 1989. A managing editor at the time, Roy Greenslade, later alleged that Mahmood was dismissed for trying to cover up a mistake. Mahmood has consistently disputed Greenslade's version of events. Mahmood then briefly worked as a producer on David Frost's TV-am programme, before joining the News of the World in 1991.
Methodology Mahmood maintained high levels of secrecy, and said he rarely visited the News International offices. It is said that written into his contract was a clause stating that his photograph would not be published. When featured in images that accompany his stories, he has been represented with a silhouette next to his byline. Despite these efforts, several news organisations have published photos of him, including BBC News, the Guardian and the Norwegian tabloid Dagbladet.
In September 2008, he wrote a book entitled Confessions of a Fake Sheik (sic) – The King of the Sting Reveals All.
In addition to his "Fake Sheikh" persona, Mahmood has used the identity of businessman Sam Fernando. He is reputed to be accompanied on occasions by a bodyguard, said to be his second cousin Mahmood Qureshi, who has posed as businessman Pervaiz Khan. Conrad Brown, the son of former NoW reporter Gerry Brown, operated the concealed video cameras and microphones.
Subjects British royals Mahmood's targets included various society figures, including Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, in 2001, Princess Michael of Kent in 2005, and Sarah, Duchess of York, in 2010.
George Galloway On 30 March 2006, Respect Party politician George Galloway said that Mahmood, using his "fake sheikh" disguise and working for the News of the World, attempted to trap him in a sting operation at a meeting in the Dorchester Hotel with businessmen from the Middle East. Galloway said he had put off the meeting for several weeks and was suspicious from the beginning. Of the men, he wrote on his website that "neither of the two looked at all like an Islamist (which is what they later claimed to be); neither had a beard".
Galloway said that Mahmood tried but failed to implicate him in illegal party funding, and to agree with antisemitic statements. The News of the World admitted their journalist had been present, but asserted that he had been involved in "wholly legitimate inquiries." Mahmood himself denied the use of antisemitic comments. Media commentator Roy Greenslade accused Mahmood and the News of the World, in its use of "subterfuge", of adopting practices which "debase journalism."
Galloway wrote to Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police commissioner and Michael Martin, the Speaker of the House of Commons about the incident. He also released photographs of Mahmood on the internet, distributed the images to other MPs and the royal family, and revealed other aspects of Mahmood's activities. The News of the World lost a High Court action to prevent publication of photographs of Mahmood.
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.
Other politicians featured in Mahmood's investigations included David Mellor, the former Secretary of State for National Heritage, who had resigned following an affair and the revelation of the unwise acceptance of the gift of a holiday, and Environment Minister Tim Yeo who was revealed to have fathered a child outside his marriage.
Sports celebrities Mahmood won the "Reporter of the Year" award in 1999 for his exposé of Newcastle United bosses Freddy Shepherd and Douglas Hall, who mocked fans and branded Geordie women "dogs" after taking Mahmood, posing as the sheikh, to a brothel in Marbella.
Footballer John Fashanu was exposed for alleged match-fixing. Fashanu offered to fix matches for Mahmood and took a cash deposit. Fashanu claimed that he knew about the sting all along and was only appearing to be corrupt so as to gather evidence for the police.
In January 2006, Mahmood met England head coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, posing as a businessman interested in opening a sports academy. Eriksson, however, asked him to take over Aston Villa FC, and said that he intended to 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. In 2019, Eriksson implied that the then FA Chief Executive had used the scandal as an opportunity to terminate his contract, stating "But of course he took the chance, because I was not his man."In 2016 Eriksson was reported to be suing Mahmood for having cost him his job.
In May 2010, Mahmood targeted snooker player 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 Kyiv, 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. On video, Higgins and Mooney discussed how to throw frames. 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, saying: "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 and was later banned from snooker management for life, following an investigation and judgement, which also resulted in Higgins being given a ban and large fine for bringing the sport into disrepute by not reporting an approach from a criminal, although it dismissed the suggestion of match fixing. Explaining that "it is not enough to just have integrity in such a position, you must also be seen to have integrity", he explained further that "this was not possible given the manner in which this allegation has been reported". 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".
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 target the cricket bookie Mazhar Majeed who claimed Pakistani cricketers Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt had committed spot-fixing during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England; the team was accused of deliberately bowling three no-balls.
Terror sting 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. However, the men were later found not guilty following a trial at the Old Bailey, with the judge criticising the News of the World for not checking the credibility of the story.
Drug sting Mahmood reported the revelations that actor John Alford 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 his appeal was unanimously rejected. An application to appeal to the House of Lords was declined.
Criticism Mahmood's methods have often been criticised. In addition to Greenslade's criticisms, politician George Galloway also sought to challenge him, while some lawyers have complained that Mahmood has sometimes broken the law without clear public interest justification.
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 allowed them to take into account Mahmood's "extreme provocation" of them to sell him cocaine. The judge agreed and passed suspended sentences.
Mahmood discussed criticisms of his methods in a televised interview in 2008 with the BBC's Emily Maitlis on The Andrew Marr Show.
Plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham In 2003, Mahmood was responsible for reporting an alleged plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham 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 and won. The paper issued an apology and paid libel costs.
Dirty bomb In 2004, Mahmood led an investigation into exposing the creation of a dirty bomb, 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.
Tulisa Contostavlos