POLICE and prosecutors are to go after Eddie Maher’s six-figure pension pot following his imprisonment for five years.

Many believed his bankruptcy in the United States after getting through his share of up to £200,000 of the £1.2million he stole meant he was effectively broke.

However, it is understood the former firefighter has around £125,000 due to him. The money has accrued over the years from a pension with London Fire Service.

It is believed Maher is entitled to a monthly income of slightly more than £600. It follows his retirement as a sub officer in 1991 due a shoulder injury sustained in a training exercise during his 12 years’ service.

Although Maher has not claimed any of the cash due to him since going on the run on January 22, 1993, the payments have been mounting up.

When police discovered the pot of gold which was awaiting the 57-year-old they restrained the money.

A timetable is now due to be set for a proceeds of crime hearing.

During Maher’s sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday his barrister David Nathan QC spoke of his client’s recurring financial difficulties in England and the US.

Mr Nathan said: “Mr Maher has never been very good with money.

“This man’s made a mess of his life, but more than that is the mess he’s caused to those he loves.”

The court heard Maher bought the tenancy of a Kent pub in 1991 for £10,000 only to leave a year later after the pub was firebombed.

It was just one example of Maher’s financial misfortunes before and after he stole £1,172,500 from outside Lloyds Bank in Hamilton Road, Felixstowe.

This was illustrated by what he and his partner Debbie Brett told the US authorities after Maher’s arrest in February last year. The family had a trail of debts and were living in rented accommodation.

Mr Nathan said: “He claimed he had £40,000 out of this (the theft). Plainly that isn’t true. He had a share. All credit to Deborah for telling US officers that he had obtained somewhere in the region of £200,000.

“Mr Maher, Deborah and the children were not living life high on the hog.

“They were a loving, caring family and he was a good and loving father.

“After doing this job for many, many years I have never seen a case like this. I have never seen a case before of a man who simply drove off in his own security vehicle when his colleague went into the bank to deliver money.

“It’s very sad indeed. Now he must pay the price.”