Former Beds deputy police and crime commissioner Tafheen Sharif has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission over claims she interfered in an attempted murder trial.
Ms Sharif, 31, resigned on August 1 after it was claimed she attempted to use her position to prevent the naming of Nazeem Dadd, who was at the centre of a love triangle that ended with the attempted murder of Luton accountant Atif Ali.
Bedfordshire police and crime panel has now referred the case to the IPCC.
A spokesperson for the panel said: “On Monday 29 September 2014, the Monitoring Officer for the Bedfordshire police and crime panel received a formal referral from the office of the police and crime commissioner for Bedfordshire concerning the actions of the former deputy police and crime commissioner during a recent trial.
“The panel is required to consider such matters to identify if a criminal offence may have occurred and if so refer it to the IPCC.
“Having considered the matter it was felt that the information supplied indicated that one or more offences may have been committed and the decision was therefore taken that the matter should be referred to the IPCC.
“This does not mean that a conclusion has been reached that any criminal offences have been committed.”
The IPCC will now examine the claims and decide if there is an ‘indication of criminality’– at which point a formal investigation would be launched.
Following an investigation the case may then be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, who would decide whether or not to press charges.
Should an ‘indication of criminality’ not be found the matter will be passed back to the police and crime panel.