The Fake Sheikh Exposed (Panorama 2014) - BBC News

For decades, Mazher Mahmood exposed various personalities in the News of the World whilst posing as a fake sheikh. But after the collapse of the drugs trial of pop star Tulisa Contostavlos, a judge accused Mahmood of lying. Now, Panorama's John Sweeney speaks to some of his highest profile targets and the men who helped him expose them. They allege that the Fake Sheikh was the real crook, using sophisticated entrapment and even creating crimes and fabricating evidence. (12/11/2014)
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[@LgnDxViRUZ]

"I liked my job. And I was good at it" - Heisenberg

[@YoutuberA_]

Breaking bad?

[@fkurcik]

His victims obviously didn't have a clue that the word sheikh has nothing to do with royalty. Sheikh is an Islamic scholar or a tribal elder.

[@ahadsaroya7713]

Same like when people font know what the word jihad means . But blame all muslims for jihad wars. Even the media dont know what it means islamically. How pathetic.

[@partofthegame2691]

@@ahadsaroya7713 hey mate thanks for the facts so many of us yes us white British working class don't know cos most are too ignorant to learn

[@ahadsaroya7713]

@@partofthegame2691 - I agree . But I'm glad you realise it. Theres a specific meaning for the word. It's a peaceful way of war. During prophet mohammeds life. When people attacked the Muslim his people. When the muslims were not attacking the non muslims. Prophet Muhammed Pubh gave 3 chances of dialogue until he realised these people are taking the piss. Then went to attack them back. Is that not a peaceful way if war. Have dialogue talk it out. Dint attack the innocent civilians.

[@partofthegame2691]

@@ahadsaroya7713 yea u exactly explained it how I understood it. I'm lucky enough to have been bought up by parents who told me to know people from different places and learn about the way they live or believe... Possibly the best thing to be told wen ur a kid is go find ppl different to u and learn about life.... And I have done it forever lol my barber is a Egyptian fella Muslim he taught me how to say Islam and Muslim proper.. Wen I was younger I was in jail and the turks taught me stuff aswell... I have no bad feelings for a race of ppl... Its dumb hey. We got scum bag ppl in all races.... I have met Tommy Robinson.... WOW that changed my mind about him... The media make u think he is a racist.. OK he has some hard ideas but I have seen him with Muslim m8s and I was surprised nothing is as it seems I think. Peace b with u m8

[@ahadsaroya7713]

@@partofthegame2691 - peace to you my brother. You take care.

[@crisbugatti2326]

I just clicked on it cause of the Rolls Royce emblem.

[@floranderson2251]

Me too.

[@floranderson2251]

@FuckILoveYouTubby Neither you!!

[@vantastroganoff4370]

Bugatti u simpelton

[@jewlz1.1.1]

Enjoyed this a whole lot, BUT if I hear, "MAHMOOD," one more time, I think I'll scream!!!

[@stevesayers6596]

I'll scweam n scweam n scweam some more!

[@munkyzzb7504]

I don't trust that Peirs Morgan fellow either.

[@colinfarren8326]

Don't get me started on THAT piece of ****. He destroyed so many lives during his tenure for the tabloids. He's pretty much in the same boat as the guy the vid is about. Yet he's on mainstream TV! Go figure.

[@munkyzzb7504]

@@colinfarren8326 yeah it's crazy and most Americans like me had no idea.

[@vantastroganoff4370]

He tridy

[@johnsaunders8021]

Poor john alford someone give him his life back acting and singing he.just needs a arm around his shoulder....

[@hisexcellencypresidentofre4118]

Meanwhile, legend has it that Rupert Murdoch is still laughing all the way to the bank..

[@LightingJedi]

Exactly these people were quite easy targets not the brightest intellectual capacity

[@dreadOFdread]

I just read that he is convicted in the Tulisa case. So many lives ruined. He should have to provide compensation to each of these individuals.

[@vdotme]

denise read The newspaper is facing multiple claims for not ensuring editorial standards that would have prevented entrapment.

[@kirkbrookes4812]

Why.doing his job.he dident invent the info

[@kirkbrookes4812]

denise read .why shud he have to pay compo.they were all convicted

[@MAGACAT]

kirk brookes clearly needs special education, very special education

[@kirkbrookes4812]

Robin Robin . I don't 2nd any education. all ready got one. they were all guilty in some wrong doing.or just greedy. max didn't just jump on the story.the info was phoned in.and nobody complained when they were reading the story's. he's stopped drug dealers.trafficking.and bombs and arms.more bollocks than we have.he will be bk

[@marcuswalker3056]

I hope every case he's been involved in has been reopened and any and all evidence has been classed as in admissible

[@fontainehiggins3638]

It will never happen the police are in on it .

[@q8fly.]

Any Arab can point him OUT within 2 seconds!

[@mohamedelyaouti2051]

yuuuuuup id be like get the fuk outta here,

[@mohamedelyaouti2051]

you can clearly see hes trying to drive home his points by being verbally intimidating. For educated calm people it looks childish and foolish.

[@Jojomojo202]

You speaking facts. He looks as Arab as a meal of Chinese food.

[@Jojohumf]

Steve & billy are just as guilty and anyone else that aided. Not sure why we’re focusing on one guy when it was a whole gang of people doing this.

[@djredeye7610]

I get what you are saying, but he was the puppet master, and the face of the scam

[@Jojohumf]

DJ Redeye well drug dealers can make the same argument

[@jnorth5543]

We’re see when the big phone hack case goes or not soon poor Chris h

[@ed-7135]

I believe that the chauffer, Alan Smith, received 12 months suspended for perverting the course of justice.

[@this-is-not-just-a-pr-fail3263]

How about the news paper proprietors ?

[@Kat-yg5up]

He should go to jail for life. He's an actual psychopath who deserves nothing good

[@nelly5289]

Why weren't the managers and agents present for the meetings?

[@phil-zz5hk]

the saddest thing is mahmood only got 15 months in jail .

[@BenWillock]

Wow, she's aged exceptionally well.

[@austriagiancarlo435]

@Ben Willock are you THAT naïve? When white women look decades younger than their true age, it's because they have exceptional doctors who inject exceptionally expensive fillers. Medical science deserves all the credit.

[@josephsvennson5694]

That's what cannabis does for your skin.

[@vondahe]

Whatever the remedy/trick, she looks better today than she did back then.

[@nikkimarland87]

@@austriagiancarlo435 racist

[@victoroladuja2416]

I guess lot of people have scores to settle with this guy , when he's finally convicted he'll be begging to be put in a solitary cell.

[@Classifiedrichardwillett]

Victor oladuja Brian Harvey of east17 is one who has a score to settle

[@gorgeyxhuns534]

@First Munch he should get his head smashed in cause of what he did to Tulisa and many others.

[@WhiteUnicorn82]

Well, he can't be put in several cells simultaneously !

[@amoss5844]

A guy like Mahmood and the Sun is a deadly combination.

[@rosreaviemore727]

Amos S.. A guy called Mahmood working for a guy called Rupert now that is a combination for real scum Journalism.

[@rashedalremeithi5997]

Fake Arab Shiekh?! You all do realise that he's a Pakistani/British Guy. He is not Arab in anyway

[@deano2000nz]

you all look the same

[@rashedalremeithi5997]

deano2000nz lol that's plain racist

[@ahmadkassir1006]

Alfie Moon Grow up. You're pathetic

[@adam9904]

Rashid Al Romaithi. what is your comment trying to imply..lol your nation salutes the PAK nation. your armies general is of PAK origin. we made and trained your airlines. we bussssss in your women. million miles a away lol. your right in my senses. this is LONDON stop avoiding tax payments boyyyy.

[@rashedalremeithi5997]

ad da it's not implying anything. They think he's Arab when he's obviously not, and they never employed PAK in the army, they're mostly people who either have connections or who have been trained in England or the US.

[@longstandingemperor5009]

There’s a guy in Ghana making waves for his investigative journalism. After watching this, I now believe he too uses entrapment. A lawyer had accused him of using entrapment.

[@hoopoflife360]

Yes it's true, his tricks are similar to Mamood's

[@pauldavies5655]

HAHAHAHAHA !!!! the reporter john sweeney talking about falsifying and editing THE TRUTH ?? ha ha ha ha ha ha --- i nearly fell off my chair several times laughing ! please all look at the documentary on youtube called " PANO-DRAMA "

[@johnnysammygidharry9949]

i remember buying and reading the news of the world, the sun and daily mirror as a boy and some of the stories were not even realistic and always made me think someone was set up as long 40 yrs ago ,i now see how people were guided easily to commit crimes , i found it strange how papers could get such big news all the time ahead of the police , it is sad for a man to ruin a man;s life to get a story, i think the news paper bosses support what goes on

[@this-is-not-just-a-pr-fail3263]

Some people just like to be polite, even when someone is asking for drugs. So they just say something like oh yea, but they don’t mean it and don’t even know where to get the drugs. They’re just trying to make it through the conversation without making the person asking feeling bad, judged or rejected, because most people were thought not to be rude & protect people’s dignity.

[@loren-sh4xq]

So after all that, he gets off. Great criminal justice system

[@ed-7135]

I seem to remember a small matter of a 15-month prison sentence actually.

[@JohnHlavaty]

If this alleged reporter engaged in these types of sadistic criminal activities for more than three decades, he is a dangerous psychopath and to protect society from his vicious criminal acts, he should be imprisoned for life. You uncovered only a handful of the setups he used to entrap his victims This begs the question, how many lives did he destroy during his 30 years in the newspaper business?

[@AliHussain-fz7pd]

He's a nasty piece of work but the News of the World thrived on sensationalism as a once in a week newspaper, and was fully involved in the hiring of private investigators and set-ups. This guy just did their bidding. The newspaper was shut down, ceo Rebecca Brooks was given a huge pay-off by Rupert Murdoch when the paper went out of circulation. It's Murdoch that funded & underwrote this behaviour & it's his corporation that should pay compensation to victims.

[@thebritishengineer8027]

Seems ironic that the Sweeney gets kicked out of the BBC for trying to pull the same kind of sting on Tommy Robinson... still drinking on the license payer Johnny boy ;)

[@vantastroganoff4370]

Tom the gay sailor Your lova

[@CaptainMarmite]

Quite ironic. John Sweeney doing a story on con men.

[@Raez_XL]

Why? I'm not from the UK.

[@nicholashannigan6930]

@@Raez_XL Google or even youtube.......... "Panodrama"

[@THX-bz8bi]

@@nicholashannigan6930 need help understanding plese explian i study english languages

[@jenisbetzke6228]

takes one 2 catch one...

[@CMCole-ms5xx]

These celebs still should take responsibility. They only had to say no, but they wanted to impress someone they perceived to be powerful. Some people will do ANYTHING for money and fame.

[@CMCole-ms5xx]

Mahmood knows Hollywood’s dark secret. Celeb’s receive fame not due to their talent alone but because they will do and accept anything to be famous. He exposed this before the internet made it wildly obvious.

[@dannyjohnson8662]

Who would of thought that the big man of the BBC would of been taken down by an ex football hooligan, couldn't make it up

[@Mike--Oxmall]

He was not working for the BBC, he was working for the News of the world.

[@Technicallyimright]

So glad this cancer of a newspaper is no longer around.

[@eldderkingsmartz2486]

Technicallyimright it will always be around unfortunately. There are more doing this but haven’t been caught.

[@Karl_Kampfwagen]

British people: "Nothing big going on here, things are happy." Tabloid Reporter: "I'm about to destroy some people's lives."

[@jamiestuart5186]

A fake reporting on a fake. Excellent consistency.

[@mamamarianovits9029]

This man has no credibility after what he tried to pull on Tommy Robinson, and would have gotten away with too if Tommy hadn't been recording himself.

[@totall2952]

mama marianovits well said very well said this guy himself lies drinks alot and makes stuff up

[@matthewnewton8812]

Of all the genuinely decent people whose lives were ruined by this man....

[@alcatrazwar]

totall yuyyyyiyiyu

[@RDR1456]

She said she has never supplied drugs and then got done for growin cannabis at home 😂😂

[@lesliekay2097]

I literally have no pity factor for her.

[@suchasingh1278]

26.00 lol has that guy got extensions on his ears 👂🏾😂

[@sleepingbeauty0000]

What kind of person is that?? Ruined others. How does he sleep at night? Horrible

[@saeedgeele2053]

dear John stay strong . peace and love

[@WhiteUnicorn82]

He's a fraud himself

[@missrose5261]

Some ppl are really stupid, I am not Arabic but I can tell easily who is Arabic and who is not and this guy looks100% Asian.

[@puyihsieh127]

Miss Rose impossible

[@missrose5261]

+Pikachu​ You are dumb😅 so what they live in Asia nobody will call a Gulf country Arab an Asian😄😄U missed the point,the guy looks 100% Pakistani no way near to Arab.

[@missrose5261]

Aaron Sochaczewski The same with what?

[@Olori-Ogun]

@Aaron Sochaczewski lol

[@EM-yk1dw]

Bring back John Alford

[@sugarbabylove1000]

Anyone who works for News of the World is going to be highly questionable.

[@Manup2day]

All are sorry once they get caught. Entrapment...I would have gone to the police and help set up a sting instead of complying.

[@asavlogsalltruthrevealed7483]

WHEN DO MEDIA NOT LIE????TRYING TO BLAME EVERYTHING ON 1 PERSON SON NOW LOL

[@basmaagr]

Anyone else watching this after the Amazon prime series?

[@mgspec]

Yes indeed ❤😊

[@Mb-vs3lw]

This is the media for ya, they encourage their journalist to dig up any juicy story, and little is done to verify it's authenticity. This is why more regulation is needed

[@upsidedownworldexposed6735]

Get John allford back on t. V.... He's a watcheble bloke

[@deeyoung50]

"I saw his face @ 0:05 seconds "........."he just wanted to get about with the name....'Fake Shake'.

[@longstandingemperor5009]

Some people are just wicked. So because of fame you go to that length to destroy people’s lives. His colleague was even more pathetic.

[@SajidHussain-lj5mr]

What goes round comes round .

[@thatsplenty19]

as if you would score for them, you know full well they can order anything at any time.

[@willyoustand86]

Ironical considering what TR did to Panorama

[@bar-sabas4801]

Simply, dont do drugs

[@gartholamu7916]

John Alford wearing his dads suit.

[@Fiona-hp4mw]

Funny they way he hesitated before saying the word "truth" at 2:30

[@dudebro3250]

BBC calling anyone out after the Diana scandal. Yeah, no.

[@angelicazambrano]

Rupert Murdoch and his sons have a lot to answer for, does anyone remember Robert maxwell? He was also running a major Scottish tabloid then he went on a boat in Israel and no one has heard of him he disappeared with millions if not billions, his sons were left to clean up the mess

[@hasnainaahmed]

@4:01 what was the soundtrack please can any one help

[@walterhughes1780]

Why will google not let me edit my last remark?

[@joefangers8228]

British journalism, even after a wide ranging inquiry, the death of a newspaper and calls for new legislation to govern journalistic practice, is still rotten. The very notion that a so-called journalist could entrap people and get away with it for so long speaks to a systemic problem with journalism in the UK.

[@kalondesiulapwa4792]

i burst into laughter when i heard the Sheikh do a horrible accent while calling out, "billy!billy!billy"

[@ajb5114]

Mazher Mahmood looks more Indian or Pakistani than Arabic.

[@Jojomojo202]

Exactly!

[@lesliekay2097]

Non of the victims are victims, you hang around druggies and the lot you have to accept whatever comes your way - even a stray bullet.

[@johnba291972]

You can talk John Sweeney, can't ya?

[@yhtrf8902]

he's saying the only real criminal is mazher no you all are part of this

[@naikojan888]

at 3:49 which song is it ??

[@mrosman2394]

Hahaha ‘ what you talking about your visitors here you going to jail like that 😂

[@CarsSupercars]

BBC creates the best documentaries 😀

[@NxDoyle]

John Sweeney always sounds like he's got a mouthful of food.

[@leahanderson1576]

Stay clear of drugs never except then or buy them . Pushers do not have your best interest. They destroy lives.

[@tami709]

good show his picture everywhere , and may one day see him in a coffin

[@syedmaricar9946]

Too many fakes it's all Todo money and power of over others who admire them.

[@rightsarentwrong5635]

Why does the guy from Grange Hill get time in prison while the girl off the talent show gets let off

[@Classifiedrichardwillett]

now mazah is in prison can we get justice for Brian Harvey who had the same done to him by The News of The World.

[@abdu1wahid105]

As a phone-hacking survivor I applaud Panorama's 'true investigative journalism'. Thankfully, the ginger swinger, NOTW and their scummy hacks are history.

[@damienocallaghan3906]

Of all the people that have been done by Mahmood...... The last person that would nail him would be TULISA........

[@Ladypeace12312]

He's supposed to be featured in "evil lives here"

[@josephsvennson5694]

The American show?

[@kalim3114]

I swear to god that kid seems like a lovely person. And that bas.....t has fuckd his life up man. Mazar Mahmood needs to b in jail 4 this

[@IIIIALBYIIII]

first 5 min iv seen 5 rolex's.

[@MR-bq1cy]

Amazing how his fellow journalists just idolise him. Shows how sordid they all are. He basically made things up and tempted people

[@bigmamasmalldada]

TL; DW. Can someone please summarize this video for me?

[@justanotherguy2644]

r u doing a school practical assignment? because i need it also summarized for school! :/

[@bigmamasmalldada]

JustAnotherGuy (najim) No I just wanna know for personal needs. Not doing it for a school assignment.

[@bigmamasmalldada]

Auntie Semite Ok that's confusing and messed up at the same time.

[@a1_trillz]

IceCream Burritos it's a fake Muslim who got people in prison

[@robynisrael1015]

IceCream Burritos

[@errol-ih4jy]

the world has become an evil place, only people can do this to each other.

[@brandonweekes2013]

Sad world we live in unfortunately

[@8ox1ngk1ng2]

This guys Pakistani not Arab..!

[@ja2416]

What a sick person. I am afraid this person might entrap me too.

[@floranderson2251]

Sea Peoples and Atlantis The Sea Peoples were a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty and especially during Year 8 of Ramesses III of the 20th Dynasty. The Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah explicitly refers to them by the term "the foreign-countries (or 'peoples of the sea" (Egyptian n3 ḫ3s.wt n p3 ym in his Great Karnak Inscription. Although some scholars believe that they invaded Cyprus, Hatti and the Levant, this hypothesis is disputed. [At this juncture I might inject the comment that few things in science are NOT disputed and the mere fact that a hypothesis is disputed can be of no especial significance as far as the evidence for the theory actually goes-DD] Historical context See also: Bronze Age collapse The Late Bronze Age in the Aegean was characterized by the raiding of migratory peoples and their subsequent resettlement. The identity of the Sea Peoples has remained enigmatic to modern scholars, who have only the scattered records of ancient civilizations and archaeological analysis to inform them. Evidence shows that the identities and motives of these peoples were not unknown to the Egyptians. In fact, many had been subordinate to the Egyptians or in a diplomatic relationship with them for at least as long as the few centuries covered by the records. .

[@johnba291972]

Did you offer the page 3 girl to "make it a sexual thing", did you John Sweeney???

[@Njoofene]

I just finished watching Amazon's documentary film about him. If he could betray his own family and friends, and members of his community, in his thirst for white acceptance at Fleet Street, nothing surprises me at all. He is exactly like Martin Sheen as Carl Fox on the movie Wall Street. The only difference is the 2 different industries. Their lives are parallel to each other.

[@mandyhobson1251]

if he lied it's purgery why is he not in jail? what kind of court is this?

[@tottenhamhotspurish]

Mandy Hobson - Rupert Murdoch has the Courts in his pocket, that’s what I imagine.

[@tomdissonance]

this is a comment section ma'am

[@laineyfabriccio5984]

it's amazes me that people don't like doing research into these "whistle blowers" like this shit, the laziness of some people really does surprise me, how the hell do they get their jobs is beyond me.

[@MrLetmein2011]

My God!! This lowlife should be in jail (Mazher Mahmood)

[@ryanjohnston2968]

What would you know about truth sweeney?

[@maungylips]

How can we believe a word John Sweeney says he’s a bigger liar than the fake sheik.

[@MB-AFC]

Funny that... didn't John Sweeney try to stitch up Tommy Rob trying to get an ex employee to lie about him...

[@SaveManWoman]

This is a story about the rich and famous buying self out of troubles they knew were all greed related and resolved through further greed.

[@RobVaderful]

As more I hear of the London Police, as more I get the Impression that they are no good.

[@lukeyarasheski5510]

It's amazing as an American I had an entirely different mental picture of the headline "Fergie Toe-Job"

[@pugzli1]

"PANO-DRAMA" search it

[@floranderson2251]

The Battle of Kadesh was the outcome of a campaign against the Syrians and allies in the Levant in the pharaoh's Year 5. The imminent collision of the Egyptian and Hittite empires became obvious to both, and they both prepared campaigns against the strategic mid-point of Kadesh for the next year. Ramesses divided his Egyptian forces, which were then ambushed piecemeal by the Hittite army and nearly defeated. However, some Egyptian forces made it through to Kadesh, and the arrival of the last of the Egyptians provided enough military cover to allow the pharaoh to escape and his army to withdraw in defeat; leaving Kadesh in Hittite hands. At home, Ramesses had his scribes formulate an official description, which has been called "the Bulletin" because it was widely published by inscription. Ten copies survive today on the temples at Abydos, Karnak, Luxor and Abu Simbel, with reliefs depicting the battle. A poem, the "Poem of Pentaur", describing the battle survives also. The poem relates that the previously captured Sherden were not only working for his majesty, but were also formulating a plan of battle for him; i.e., it was their idea to divide Egyptian forces into four columns. There is no evidence of any collaboration with the Hittites or malicious intent on their part, and if Ramesses considered it, he never left any record of that consideration. The poem lists the peoples which went to Kadesh as allies of the Hittites. Amongst them are some of the sea peoples spoken of in the Egyptian inscriptions previously mentioned, and many of the peoples who would later take part in the great migrations of the 12th century BC.

[@carlabroderick5508]

Drug scene dangerous for many reasons.

[@zerial666]

funny that Jon... You should of done that interview about yourself hahahahahah

[@lindagodi8869]

Yes, it IS entrapment, still every single one of the victim's were happy to go along with what was proposed to take a carreer shortcut. Success and monetary gain comes from talent and hard work, NOT some shady deal. Still Mahmoud belongs behind bars.

[@samuelwilliams5161]

Do you think when they go undercover and dont see anything they just drop off the face off the earth

[@carryonsailing]

Horrible creatures

[@aliyahosman1774]

I'm Somali but it's unfair to generalise and say all Pakistanis are phonies wth- btw a shiekh can b black white orange pink green and blue. As long he is a pious and Knowledgeable person with the deen😩