My Herald link to Duff's criminal trial might be behind a paywall
But this was the court report and comments from official at HSC at the time
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.
.....
There endeth the lesson !!!
Duff was a duff ,dangerous greedy,self centred character involved with our club
And only his personal fear of injury or worse stopped him help mercer to destroy us
#
wow , never knew that
though in the early days, Farmer never cared a jot about Hibs only about profit (Source: Tom O'malley) but as the days and weeks passed he grew to understand this was about community and not just business so I have no doubts with Duffs assertion that Mr Farmer had agreed with Mercer to buy back the Hibernian name and memorabilia and start again elsewhere such as Meadowbank.
