Queen duped by MBE conman

Aug 30, 2006, 15:42 GMT

A charity worker who tricked Britain's Queen Elizabeth into giving him an MBE may be stripped of his award after being exposed as a fake.

The monarch presented Michael Eke with the award during a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace in 2003.

However, it has now emerged that Eke, from Cambridgeshire, wrote two letters under an assumed name to the Cabinet Office nominating himself for the award.

Eke sent other bogus letters to local community leaders asking them to back his application.

The 38-year-old, who ran the local Air Training Corps (ATC), was even chosen to carry the Olympic torch on its London leg en route to the 2004 Games in Athens.

Eke now faces a possible jail sentence after pleading guilty to seven counts of theft and four of obtaining money by deception.

The father-of-two admitted to sending false invoices to local companies in 2004 for almost £15,000 - which he claimed he was giving to the ATC.

However, it is alleged Eke actually spent the money on a party to celebrate his MBE and £7,000 went on a new car.

Suspicions were raised last January when he used false references to obtain a job with Cambridgeshire police as a stationary store manager, after which seven laptop computers, three televisions, two DVD players and two digital cameras went missing - totalling over £8,600.

He also allegedly ordered candles for the police department, and then sold them on to a local church for their Christmas Midnight Mass services.

Judge Paul Downes adjourned the case at Norwich Crown Court until October 3.

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International