Former Fujitsu staff under police investigation to face Post Office IT scandal inquiry
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Two previous Fujitsu staff, who are currently under police investigation for probable perjury, will give proof and deal with queries in the statutory inquiry into the Post Workplace IT scandal.
In accordance to the most current inquiry timetable, Anne Chambers and Gareth Jenkins will appear in entrance of inquiry chair Wyn Williams in the to start with week of May possibly.
The pair had been utilised as specialist witnesses in trials of subpostmasters blamed for accounting shortfalls and prosecuted for theft and fraud based mostly on computer system evidence and are remaining investigated by the Metropolitan Law enforcement for most likely committing perjury.
A multimillion-pound Significant Court circumstance in 2019 proved that bugs in the Publish Office’s pc process, which was supplied by Fujitsu, were to blame for unexplained accounting shortfalls.
Evidence emerged that Fujitsu and Submit Workplace workers realized of personal computer faults but unsuccessful to reveal them all through trials of subpostmasters.
In December 2019, just before handing down a judgment in the High Courtroom, choose Peter Fraser reported he was referring data to the DPP because he experienced problems more than the precision of evidence supplied in court by Fujitsu in earlier trials of subpostmasters.
“Based on the awareness that I have obtained both of those from conducting the demo and composing the Horizon challenges judgment, I have really grave worries with regards to the veracity of evidence presented by Fujitsu staff members to other courts in previous proceedings about the known existence of bugs, problems and flaws in the Horizon program,” Fraser said at the time.
A whole of 736 subpostmasters and department employees have been prosecuted based mostly on evidence from the Write-up Office’s Horizon accounting process utilized in branches in between 2000 and 2015, many of whom were being specified jail sentences.
Around 80 folks who had been prosecuted have so considerably experienced their felony convictions overturned, with several extra anticipated.
In January 2020, the director of community prosecutions referred issues handed to him by judge Fraser to the Metropolitan Law enforcement. By November 2020, the Satisfied had opened a legal investigation into the two former Fujitsu staff.
Police doing the job on the case have interviewed the previous Fujitsu team numerous situations in the two years due to the fact the investigation was introduced. It has also interviewed at the very least a single former subpostmaster who was a target of the scandal.
The statutory general public inquiry is at this time in its third phase, hunting into the procedure of the Horizon method, together with instruction, guidance, resolution of disputes, knowledge and rectification of errors in the technique.
Each former Fujitsu personnel featured in period two of the Horizon scandal, whilst not offering proof. Section two of the inquiry examined the procurement, style, pilot, roll-out and modifications.
In November last 12 months, throughout a listening to in period two of the inquiry, John Simpkin, Horizon procedure software program aid centre workforce chief at Fujitsu, who labored with Anne Chambers, mentioned she had been “very unhappy” about getting “manoeuvred” into giving evidence.
Chambers appeared as an skilled witness at the Significant Court docket throughout the situation of Lee Castleton, a postmaster from Bridlington, East Yorkshire. Castleton was declared bankrupt just after he refused to pay the Article Business £27,000 – cash it explained he owed simply because the accounts at his department showed unexplained deficits in excess of a 12-week period of time in 2004.
Simpkins instructed the inquiry: “[After giving evidence] I know she was not extremely happy and never needed to do it once again. She fed back to our supervisor that she did not locate it at all good and I consider the supervisor pushed back again that so it wouldn’t take place once again.”
Gareth Jenkins was main architect at Fujitsu, and was utilised as a qualified witness in trials of subpostmasters accused of theft and wrong accounting. In 2013, a attorney contracted by the Submit Office, Simon Clarke of Cartwright King, advised the Article Office environment that Jenkins really should not be used as a witness as it was in breach of his responsibilities.
The Metropolitan Law enforcement claimed the investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made in relation to it.
Laptop or computer Weekly to start with described on challenges with the Horizon procedure in 2009, when it produced community the tales of a group of subpostmasters affected by reporting errors (see timeline of content beneath).
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Source connection A former Fujitsu Executive is facing a national inquiry into the Post Office IT scandal following a police investigation.
The Government’s inquiry into the Post Office IT scandal has roped in a former Fujitsu Executive as a prime suspect in its investigation. This comes following a police investigation into the ex-staffer, who has since left the company.
The Post Office IT scandal, which surfaced in 2019, involved Fujitsu, who provided IT services to the Post Office from 1999 – 2014. During this time, faults and errors in the IT systems led to millions of pounds in losses for the Post Office.
It is now alleged that Fujitsu misled the Post Office regarding the integrity of the IT systems and it has been reported that the former Fujitsu employee, who was under investigation by the police, attempted to hide evidence of the faulty systems.
The national inquiry into the Post Office IT scandal was initialised by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and aims to uncover the details of the IT systems and who was responsible. The inquiry will now include the ex-Fujitsu Executive in its investigation in order to ascertain if there was any misconduct.
The role of Fujitsu and its employees in the Post Office IT scandal has been a matter of intense scrutiny since the issue became public. This latest development is another step towards uncovering the truth.
It is clear that the inquiry is taking the matter seriously and that those responsible for the IT failures will face consequences. The former Fujitsu employee, who is set to face questions about the matter, has a long road ahead of him and must be prepared to answer all questions posed to him.
The investigation is sure to take some time, as the inquiry looks to uncover the full extent of the Post Office scandal. However, it is likely to uncover some valuable information into the facts of the case and may see justice finally served.
