‘I didn’t know the legal aid bills were bent’

The clerk who allegedly helped a gang of crooked lawyers defraud the taxpayer out of millions of pounds in legal aid ‘did not know the claims were fraudulent’, a court heard. Barrister Shahid Rashid, 59, together with solicitors Razi Shah, 49, and husband and wife Rasib Ghaffar, 50, and Kareena Maciel, 47, are said to have falsely claimed £1,856,584 in costs for a Bournemouth Crown Court trial in 2011. Also accused in the conspiracy are solicitors Azhar Khan, 48, Joseph…