A Merseyside Police Chief Inspector joked about "secretive" meetings with a criminal suspect and once quipped he would wear "a floral dress and a blonde wig" as a disguise, a misconduct panel heard.
Chief Insp. Stephen Rice, a 24-year veteran of the force and former firearms commander, gave at times impassioned evidence about his experiences of being accused of misconduct over his years-long business relationship with an allegedly crooked property developer, referred to as "Mr A" for legal reasons.
The senior officer, who ran a landlord business on the side, bought several large rental properties from Mr A worth in excess of £2m between 2012 and 2016, partly funded by interest free, unsecured loans from Mr A.
