Post Office boss admits ‘it’s a possibility’ Horizon scandal victims’ money may have been paid to executives
16 January 2024, 20:05 | Updated: 17 January 2024, 00:38
The Post Office chief executive has admitted that some of the money wrongfully taken from Horizon scandal victims may have been paid to executives.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Speaking to a select committee of MPs on Tuesday, Nick Read said the Post Office has still “not got to the bottom of” what happened to the cash paid by the sub-postmasters.
The money was paid by the sub-postmasters after an IT glitch in the Horizon software made it appear they had stolen money.
Despite two or three investigations from external auditors, Mr Read said “we have struggled to uncover” what happened to the cash.
He said low quality data is one of the issues making it difficult to determine where the money went but that it’s possible the cash could have been part of “hefty numeration packages for executives”.
"It's possible, absolutely it's possible," he said.
Read more: Scotland's Lord Advocate apologises to Horizon scandal victims
Mr Read appeared before MPs on the business committee on Tuesday, which was also attended by Paul Patterson, director of Europe's Fujitsu Services Limited.
Mr Patterson told MPs the company is "truly sorry" for faults in the Horizon system.
He said conceded there is a "moral obligation" for the technology giant to also contribute to the compensation for sub-postmasters.
"To the sub-postmasters and their families, Fujitsu would like to apologise for our part in this appalling miscarriage of justice," Mr Patterson said.
"We were involved from the very start. We did have bugs and errors in the system. And we did help the Post Office in their prosecutions of sub-postmasters. For that we are truly sorry."
Mr Patterson said that he had spoken to Fujitsu bosses in Japan and the company expects to have a conversation with the government about how much compensation it should pay.
"The reason why I can say what I said earlier is because that's a conversation we expect on the conclusion to have," he said.
"Our contribution to the fund, or redress or compensation, we expect to have that conversation with the relevant government."
Fujitsu boss ‘sorry’ for firm’s role in Horizon scandal
He also admitted to the Business and Trade Committee that Fujitsu gave evidence which was used to send innocent people to prison.
Addressing the support Fujitsu gave the Post Office in their prosecutions, Mr Patterson said: "There was data given from us to them to support those prosecutions.
"The information shared with the Post Office as part of our contract with them was very clear - the Post Office also knew there were bugs and errors."
He also admitted that there was remote access to the Horizon system, despite the Post Office's repeated denials.
"We have already stated that there was remote access to the systems," he said.
But he refused to recognise that there was a "covert unit" at Fujitsu gaining access to sub-postmasters' computers without their knowledge.
"The support and the interventions remotely from Fujitsu has been documented and it is clear the Post Office was certainly aware of that remote access, and that was clear for some period of time," Mr Patterson said.
The European Fujitsu boss acknowledged that the firm's UK reputation had been damaged, telling MPs: "We provide many services to government across a range of services.
"We have regular conversations with the department and the Cabinet Office about our performance. Going forward, we will look at every opportunity to determine whether we bid... in the open market or not.
"It's very clear that our brand and our value in the UK is under question, and we will look at all of those opportunities and decide yes or no."
The Horizon scandal saw more than 700 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses handed criminal convictions after Fujitsu's faulty Horizon software made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
The government has been scrambling to exonerate them and pay out compensation to those affected.
The long-running battle for justice accelerated after the public outcry provoked by TV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office.
