By Daniel De Simone
BBC News
The officer who led a disastrous Metropolitan Police investigation of VIP sex abuse allegations could face gross misconduct proceedings.
Steve Rodhouse ran an operation that probed false claims that MPs and generals abused and murdered children.
He has been served with a formal notice by the police watchdog over allegedly using inaccurate or dishonest words in 2016.
Mr Rodhouse is said to be co-operating fully with the watchdog.
Operation Midland was largely based on claims made by Carl Beech, who was jailed in 2019 for making false allegations.
Beech was sentenced to 18 years in prison for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice, one of fraud, and for several child sexual offences.
The Metropolitan Police spent 2.5m on Operation Midland.
Beech was brought to justice after a damning review by retired high court judge Sir Richard Henriques recommended he be investigated by another police force.
But the BBC revealed two other complainants who made false claims were not referred by the Met for investigation, despite Sir Richard recommending they should be.
In 2016, then Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Rodhouse told Sir Richard in a private presentation that he was "satisfied" the other two complainants had "told deliberate lies".
However, when Operation Midland closed months earlier, Scotland Yard issued a public statement which said detectives had "not found evidence to prove that they were knowingly misled by a complainant".
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