A police report into the arrest last May of prominent tech investor Shervin Pishevar in London on allegations of sexual assault was apparently fabricated, adding to the drama of a “smear campaign” he claims he is a victim of.
Pishevar confirmed the arrest last week in a statement to Fast Company, noting that he was briefly detained “in connection with a alleged sexual assault.” He says he was informed in July that “no further action would be taken against him” and that he was “de-arrested.” Pishevar strongly denies the assault claim, and he was never charged in the case after an investigation by the police.
Amid intense media interest in the arrest—for which Pishevar obtained a court injunction last June to prevent news outlets in the U.K. from reporting his name—the alleged police report was sent to several journalists, purporting to include details of the arrest.
But according to a new letter from the City of London Comptroller’s office, the alleged “report” was not compiled by or on behalf of the City of London police and “uses terminology and details which are not familiar” to that police force. In addition, the City of London police will undertake its own investigation into the alleged report. The letter was provided to Fast Company by Mark Fabiani, a crisis management expert working for Pishevar.
Pishevar is a prominent venture capitalist and entrepreneur best known for his investments in Uber, Hyperloop One, and Munchery, as well as his aggressive defense of former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. When rumors started to circulate about the arrest in recent months, Pishevar took action, filing suit last week against a political opposition research group, which he accuses of spearheading a “smear campaign” against him that included the false claim that Pishevar had paid money to settle a claim for sexual assault in London.” In our story last week on the arrest, Fast Company cited a statement from Fabiani, a statement from the City of London police, and the alleged police report, noting that its authenticity had not been verified.
In his suit against Definers, a Republican-led opposition research group, Pishevar claims that the firm was hired by “one or more of his business competitors” in order to “assassinate” Pishevar’s character and to “destroy his career.” Tim Miller, a principal at Definers and the former communications director for Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, strongly denied the claims in the lawsuit, stating that “Pishevar’s claims are delusional. Definers has never engaged in any of the actions in his complaint nor done any work with regards to him.”
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