Michael Eke (born 1968) is a former employee of Cambridgeshire Police who received an MBE that was later stripped following his conviction for fraud. A native of

March, Cambridgeshire March is a The Fens, Fenland market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. It was the county town of the Isle of Ely which was a separate administrative county from 1889 to 1965. Th ...

, Eke had created bogus events for young children and gained thousands of pounds in

National Lottery National Lottery may refer to: *National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland *National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom *South African National Lottery, established in 2000 *A number of countries con ...

grants that funded the non-existent schemes. He had received the MBE in 2003 but was first suspected of fraud as part of the RAF (due to his handling of the ATC Squadron he commanded), and a subsequent police investigation two years later. Eke had gained false references to get his job as a stationery manager and then stole computers from the police. Eke was found guilty of theft and deception at Norwich Crown Court on 30 August 2006. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison on 3 October and stripped of his MBE on 28 November. He was also ordered to pay £26,935 to the March

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

(of which he was officer commanding) and £13,325 to Awards for All, a

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grants scheme. To this date, he is the only member of the ATC to have been court-martialed. His sister, Mrs Beryl Hudson, disowned him, claiming he had stolen thousands of pounds from his dying mother, and then took his children on a day trip to

Hunstanton Hunstanton (sometimes pronounced ) is a seaside resort, seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash. Hunstanton lies 102 miles (164 km) north-north-east of London an ...

the day she died. He was released from prison in July 2007.

References

External links

Conman could be stripped of MBE
BBC News, 30 August 2006
MBE conman ordered to repay cash
BBC News, 9 March 2007
MBE conman 'stole money from dying mother to lavish on his glamorous wife'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eke, Michael 1968 births Living people English criminals English fraudsters People from March, Cambridgeshire People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour