Hibs' former chief jailed for two years for fraud

yesterday beginning a jail sentence for fraud, a penalty which brought a

jubilant reaction from followers of the club.

David Duff, 38, was sentenced to two years at Winchester Crown Court

after a jury accepted that he had employed deception and theft to

defraud building societies out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

While no-one within the hierarchy of Hibs was prepared to comment on

the sentence, the secretary of the club's supporters' federation was

less reticent. ''He has got his just desserts,'' said Mr Bill Alcorn.

''We know it is not connected with what Duff did at Hibs but at least he

has got some punishment.''

Duff's address, ironically in the light of his impact on

Scottish football, was given as David Murray Buildings, Swindon. He

enlisted the help of two employees -- one his lover -- to aid him in the

mortgage scam and milked clients' accounts to fund a number of business

ventures and reduce his debts.

Winchester Crown Court was told the totals ran into ''hundreds of

thousands of pounds'' but no-one would ever know how much Duff got away

with. Judge Ian Starforth Hill, QC, told him: ''As a solicitor, you were

expected to be an honest man and someone that people could trust.''

Mr Paul Grunbar, prosecuting, said Duff joined solicitors Phelps and

Lawrence as a partner in 1982 at their office in Ramsbury, Wiltshire.

In August 1991, the firm moved to Regent's Circus, Swindon, and all

the documents were in the control

of Duff. His money-making exercises involved his personal assistant

and lover, Lynda Hobbs, and Paul Hatch, who was in charge of the firm's

Fulham branch.

Mr Grunbar said: ''He stole money from his own firm by arranging for

Hobbs and Hatch to apply for mortgages. False applications were backed

up by letters and references, supplied by Duff, giving inflated

salaries.''

The court heard that neither employee was earning more than #30,000 a

year but, by claiming they earned huge salaries, were able to obtain

substantial mortgages from building societies and the money was

embezzled by Duff.

''The exercise was entirely for Duff's benefit and all the money went

to him,'' added Mr Grunbar.

He said once a cheque arrived from a building society ''it would be

put into a client's account. As Duff was in a position of authority, he

would arrange for the money to be transferred, sometimes into one of his

own numerous bank accounts.''

Money paid into the firm's accounts by clients for legitimate purposes

would also be transferred to Duff's own account and used to pay debts.

Duff was convicted of four offences of obtaining money by deception

and three of theft between July 1987 and July 1991. Hobbs, 39, of Wood

Hall Park, Swindon, and Hatch, 29, of Fulham, London, were each

convicted of obtaining money by deception between the same dates.

Hobbs was given 200 hours community service and Hatch 120 hours

community service.

Mr Thomas Culver, defending Duff, described his client as ''a man who

has fallen from a pinnacle''.

Duff took over Hibs in August 1987 and appointed his brother-in-law

Jim Gray to assist him when Edinburgh bookmaker Kenny Waugh decided to

relinquish control. Duff's cheques failed to clear, his business CV in

the South of England was murky, and it was clear he was being bankrolled

by a Monaco-based speculator David Rowland.

Duff presented himself as a local saviour of the club and began

milking money from supporters through share flotations. The money was

squandered on a losing investment in pubs and restaurants in the South

of England and the share price plummeted.

Eventually, Mr Rowland sought a way out of holding his share by

attempting to sell out to Hearts owner, Mr Wallace Mercer. The plan fell

through and now one football magnate is in tax exile in France and the

other is beginning a prison sentence.