Five of the officers are facing charges including conspiracy to steal and misconduct in public office, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said today.

All six have been charged with money laundering offences.

Head of the CPS Special Crime Division Malcolm McHaffie said Besmir Matera, 36, Lee-Ann Evanson, 42, John Bernthal, 53, Ben Edwardes, 45, Jack Mitchell, 33, and David Grundy, 43, have been charged “following a Home Office investigation into thefts from migrants and money laundering between August 2021 and November 2022.”

All six defendants will appear at Westminster magistrates’ court on January 29.

Mr McHaffie said: “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.

“We have worked closely with the Home Office’s Anti-Corruption Criminal Investigations Unit as they carried out their investigation.”