Lawyer in UK accused of bribing Iraqis to sue British soldiers

Telegraph:
One of the country's leading human-rights lawyers faces a criminal inquiry into claims Iraqi civilians ​were bribed ​to bring abuse claims against British soldiers, The Telegraph can reveal.

Phil Shiner is accused by legal regulators of ​knowing about the bribes which were allegedly disguised as expenses and then submitted as legal aid claims funded by the taxpayer.

​Mr Shiner's law firm has brought more than 1,000 allegations against British soldiers, some of whom have been pursued through the courts and had their lives ruined.

It can now be disclosed that National Crime Agency (NCA) will be passed a file in the coming days, outlining a series of allegations being made against Mr Shiner, who made his career suing the Ministry of Defence in the wake of the Iraq war.
...
But following the Al Sweady inquiry - which found that ​some ​Iraqi witnesses had lied about murder and torture allegedly committed by British troops - the methods of the law firms have been thrown into doubt.

On Tuesday, the Legal Aid Agency, after its own 18-month investigation, stripped PIL of its access to public money, preventing it bringing any more legally aided cases.

But now the agency has revealed it has been in contact with the National Crime Agency, which has a duty to investigate serious and organised crime.

The Legal Aid Agency told The Telegraph that “in our view the action PIL was taking could be criminal”.

A source claimed: “Evidence exists showing that Professor Shiner was aware of ‘disguised bribes’ being paid in relation to publicly funded matters.
...
If proven true these allegations suggest a stunning betrayal of the country and its soldiers for profit.  I think the Brits should also investigate whether the anti-war movement in the UK is also tied to the alleged abuses.

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