Government launches review into false Post Office fraud claims
The government has launched a review into the Fujitsu Horizon IT system that caused Post Office branch mangers to be falsely accused of fraud.
Business minister Paul Scully confirmed yesterday that there would be a review of “the failings that occurred at Post Office Ltd” in the scandal.
More than 550 Post Office branch mangers – known as sub-postmasters – brought legal action against the Post Office after being wrongly accused of fraud.
The state-owned company settled the High Court case in December last year, paying out £58m to victims.
Those involved were falsely accused because of faults in the Fujitsu Horizon system, which tallies up daily takings for each branch.
Sub-postmasters involved were force to pay back money they never stole, forcing some to declare bankruptcy while others were prosecuted and jailed for charges like false accounting and fraud.
Confirming the review, Scully wrote: “Government wants to be fully assured that through the review there is a public summary of the failings that occurred at Post Office Ltd, drawing on the judgments from the Horizon case and by listening to those that have been most affected; that lessons have genuinely been learned; and that concrete changes have taken place at Post Office Ltd to ensure that this situation will never be repeated.”
Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy committee has also announced its own probe into the review.
Earlier this year, the committee’s former chairman Rachel Reeves said: “Hundreds of sub-postmasters have suffered considerable distress, and many have had their lives ruined.”
Labour MP Karl Turner called for even further action yesterday in the House of Commons, saying the scandal “should trigger a criminal investigation” and “only a judge will get to the bottom of this miscarriage of justice”.