A number of senior police officers are being investigated by the Office of Police Integrity over the handling of a rape claim against former Labor minister Theo Theophanous, that was thrown out of court in 2008.

The probe will allegedly centre on a detective involved in the investigation who is still working on high-profile cases. The detective and several colleagues are expected to hand over documents and records relating to the investigation, a source told the Herald Sun.

A source told the Melbourne newspaper that the chief objective of the investigation was to find out “why Theophanous was charged when the evidence didn’t stack up – why they pressed ahead with it”.

Victoria Police said it would not comment on an OPI matter. It is believed Theophanous lodged a complaint to the OPI in October 2010. The OPI inquiry is believed to have begun in March this year.

heophanous was charged in 2008 with raping a woman at his office in Victoria’s Parliament House ten years earlier. When the case came before the Magistrates’ Court, the alleged victim was found to be an “entirely unreliable witness”. Theophanous resigned from Parliament in 2010 and has subsequently won a criminal defamation case against the woman.

When contacted by Neos Kosmos, Theophanous declined to comment on the Herald Sun’s article or the OPI investigation.