Metropolitan Police launches second criminal investigation in Post Office scandal

The Metropolitan Police is examining the Post Office for scams associated to cash drawn from incorrectly prosecuted subpostmasters, almost 4 years after the force started examining possible criminal activities of perjury dedicated by previous Fujitsu personnel.

As exposed by Computer Weekly in April 2020, the Met Police started examining whether tech executives at Fujitsu, which provided the Post Office’s Horizon retail and accounting system, dedicated perjury throughout prosecutions of subpostmasters. In November that very same year the Met opened a complete examinationwhich is continuous. (see listed below for more information.

This 2nd examination into prospective criminal offenses is concentrated on the Post Office technique of recuperating phantom losses from prosecuted subpostmasters. In between 2000 and 2015 there were 736 prosecutions of subpostmasters by the Post Office over unusual deficiencies, for criminal activities consisting of theft and incorrect accounting. The Post Office required subpostmasters to spend for the shortages, in spite of there being no proof of money really being taken, just the shortages improperly taped by the Horizon system.

The Metropolitan Police informed The Times it is “examining prospective scams offenses occurring out of these prosecutions” that included “cash recuperated from subpostmasters as an outcome of prosecutions or civil actions.”

The Post Office presented the Horizon retail and accounting software application from Fujitsu in 1999, to automate accounting in 14,000 Post Office branches. Subpostmasters, who till then utilized manual paper-based accounting approaches, started to have issues stabilizing their accounts.

Their agreement with the Post Office, which was later on referred to as overbearing by a High Court judgedid not alter in line with the brand-new innovation. It made them accountable for making all shortages excellent, unless they might show it was not their fault. Lots of believed the Horizon system was to blame, however each was informed they were the only one having issues.

Hundreds were imprisoned and numerous got other criminal penalties, with thousands impacted by the Horizon issues. Those founded guilty have actually coped with rap sheets and all the problems that opt for that. Almost 100 of those prosecuted have up until now had actually convictions reversed in what is frequently referred to as the largest miscarriage of justice in UK history.

While not all victims were prosecuted, thousands were made to repay cash after shortages appeared in their accounts on Horizon.

The Horizon system was shown to be mistake susceptible throughout a High Court legal fight that started in 2018A group of 555 members of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliancetook legal action against the Post Office to show that mistakes in the Horizon system were triggering unusual accounting disparities. The judge in the High Court case, Peter Fraser, explained the Post Office’s claims that the Horizon system was bug complimentary as “the 21st century equivalent of preserving that the Earth is flat.”

Computer system Weekly exposed the scandal in 2009 with an examination into issues being experienced by 7 subpostmasters consisting of Alan Bates and Noel Thomas in North Wales, Lee Castleton in Bridlington and Jo Hamilton in Hampshire. All 4 included in the current ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office

Watch: ITV’s Post Office scandal documentary: The genuine story

Check out: What you require to learn about the Horizon scandal

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