Michael Eke (born 1968) is the former employee of Cambridgeshire Police who received an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

that was later stripped following his conviction for fraud. A native of

March, Cambridgeshire March is a Fenland market town and 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. The administrative centre of Fenland ...

, Eke had created bogus events for young children and gained thousands of pounds in National Lottery grants that funded the non-existent schemes. He had received the

in 2003, but was first suspected of fraud as part of an RAF (due to his handling of the ATC Squadron he commanded) and subsequent police investigation two years later. Eke had gained false references to get his job as 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 he was 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 volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...

(of which he was officer commanding) and £13,325 to

Awards for All An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award ...

, a

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

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 () is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, which had a population of 4,229 at the 2011 Census. It faces west across The Wash, making it one of the few places on the east coast of Great Britain where the sun sets over the sea. Hunstant ...

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