Bolton neighbourhood police chief Mohammed Razaq, 53, had a portfolio of four rental properties and was trying to buy a fifth, according to the Daily Mail.

However, he told lenders on two occasions he would be living in the properties and obtained residential mortgages.

Prosecutor Robert Hall said an ambition for wealth and status fuelled Razaq’s deception:

“The effect of this financial demand on Mohammed Razaq was that his bank account, that was in good credit, started to go down in balance to where money was needed to keep them in the black.”

Razaq, who was found guilty of six counts of fraud and three counts of converting criminal property, also falsified a damage report in order to make a bogus insurance claim.

In 2010, he applied for a £12,000 mortgage for home improvements for a property which he claimed to live in but in fact rented out.

The following year, he falsified his address while applying for a mortgage for another property which he claimed to be planning to move to.

However, two weeks after successfully taking out the loan, he attempted to insure it as a rental property.

CPS North West Complex Casework Unit senior crown prosecutor Elisa Hopleys said Razaq had embarked upon a prolonged period of dishonesty:

“The public are entitled to expect the highest standards from police officers and whilst cases where police officers are charged with criminal offences are rare, today’s conviction shows that they are not above the laws they are expected to uphold.”