Prison term for ex-PC who committed £1 million fraud

A former officer who exploited his police reputation to defraud victims out of more than £1 million has been jailed for four and a half years. Ben Staff, who left Norfolk Constabulary in 2008, was found guilty of eight fraud-related offences at two trials in March and December last year. On Tuesday (January 3), Norwich Crown Court heard how the 35-year-old funnelled payments meant for his building and development companies into his personal accounts. Staff also wrote cheques that bounced and fraudulently claimed VAT refunds, using his illicit earnings to fund a lavish lifestyle. Sentencing, Judge Mark Dennis QC condemned Staff’s “thoroughly dishonest conduct”. He said: “You were dealing with honest and hardworking individuals who were acting in the same difficult financial climate that you faced. “You seem prepared to blame anyone but yourself for what happened.” Norfolk Constabulary began investigating Staff in 2012 after his clients lodged a complaint. Officers found he had deceived investors and creditors into thinking he lacked the funds to pay them, and convinced them using his perceived authority as a former officer. In one year, he bounced £340,711 worth of cheques written to building suppliers and associates. He also defrauded Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs out of more than £130,000 in VAT refunds on invoices. Staff splashed his income on sports cars, holidays, home renovations and financing his own wedding. He was arrested in 2014 and charged with multiple counts of fraud, false accounting, and converting criminal property. His wife, 33-year-old serving officer Catriona Staff, was also investigated but was cleared of all counts. She now faces internal disciplinary procedures. Mitigating, barrister Amiot Vollenweider claimed that prison would be “tougher” for Staff than most other people due to his status as a former officer. Judge Dennis responded: “A former policeman should have known better.”