A FORMER solicitor is at the centre of a £768,000 fraud investigation after being charged with 17 new offences of stealing from clients.

Philip Pressler, 52, of Whittlestone Head, Darwen, was previously accused of 41 offences of theft and false accounting amounting to £468,000. He has now been charged with theft from clients totalling more than £300,000.

Pressler was arrested and charged with the initial offences last October after a five-month investigation involving property and assets in the UK and abroad, including Spain.

He had already been committed to Preston Crown Court on 41 charges relating to the theft of £468,000 from the accounts of clients with his former firm, Hindle Son and Cooper between February 1998 until May 2001.

The latest counts against Pressler involve allegations of theft from clients on dates between 1997 and 2002.

He appeared before Blackburn magistrates and District Judge Paul Firth adjourned the case to be transferred to Preston Magistrates' Court.

Pressler was remanded on bail until June 28 for the preparation of committal papers to give the defence time to provide details and proof of possible sureties and securities which may be put up.

Pressler was formerly a partner in Hindle Son and Cooper. The Law Society first began investigating his dealings in 2001 and was assisted by the police's major crime unit.

He had been in partnership as a solicitor for 16 years before Hindle Son and Cooper closed in September 2001.

The clients were told to find themselves new solicitors and Pressler's partner started work with a new company.