A former subpostmaster pressured senior Submit Workplace executives to fulfill him to debate his unexplained shortfall, however they then “lied” to him concerning the capability to remotely entry and manipulate department accounts, says former subpostmaster consultant.
Throughout questioning of former Submit Workplace senior govt Angela van den Bogerd over her information of distant entry, the Submit Workplace Horizon scandal inquiry was drawn to the dispute between the Submit Workplace and former subpostmasters Val Athwall and his spouse Rachpal Athwall.
When investigating an unexplained shortfall at their department in Ferndown, Dorset, the subpostmasters suspected that their accounts had been modified by way of distant entry to Horizon.
In 2011, Mr Athwall demanded a gathering with a senior Submit Workplace govt, however was refused till he pressured the Submit Workplace’s hand, in response to Mark Baker, a former Nationwide Federation of Subpostmasters consultant.
Baker, who represented Athwall, stated: “We solely acquired the assembly as a result of Mr Athwall closed his department [in protest] with a load of passport purposes locked within the secure. Clients have been in panic they might have their journey plans ruined.
“Submit Workplace head of retail Kevin Gilliland phoned me at house late on a Friday evening to beg me to get the subpostmaster to launch the passport purposes.”
A gathering passed off in 2011 and Athwall pressed the executives – Gilliland, Van den Bogerd and Submit Workplace auditor Helen Rose – on distant entry.
They informed him that the Submit Workplace couldn’t remotely entry subpostmaster accounts, however failed to inform him that Fujitsu, which supplied the Horizon software program, may.
Baker, who later grew to become chair of the subpostmaster department of the Communications Staff Union, stated he left the assembly “feeling very uneasy”.
“I felt that they had lied to us, however I couldn’t show in any other case. Figuring out what I do know now, I consider we have been lied to by Submit Workplace’s Gilliland, Van den Bogerd and Helen Rose, who have been all at this assembly.” He added that he believes they fabricated paperwork that have been proven to them to him and Mr Athwal.
In his position as a subpostmaster and union consultant, over time Baker has been a vocal campaigner for justice for subpostmasters affected by Horizon errors. He was described by Excessive Court docket choose Peter Fraser as “redoubtable” in his Excessive Court docket judgment after a court docket battle between subpostmasters and the Submit Workplace in 2019.
Notes from the recorded assembly, revealed within the listening to, present Athwall repeatedly requested whether or not the Submit Workplace may remotely entry and make modifications to Horizon. The Submit Workplace stated it couldn’t, however failed to say that Fujitsu may do each these items. Van den Bogerd herself reassured Athwal that it was not attainable.
In the course of the inquiry listening to, the omission was described as an “inaccurate reply” by inquiry barrister Inquiry KC Jason Beer.
Van den Bogerd informed the inquiry the reply was correct as a result of he requested if the Submit Workplace may entry the accounts, not Fujitsu.
Beer KC stated the Submit Workplace was not open about Fujitsu’s entry. “Come on, are you saying that what you stated total there’s correct? It was inaccurate by not being a full account, wasn’t it?”
He stated the open and clear factor to say could be, “No one within the Submit Workplace can entry [accounts], however now we have discovered that individuals in Fujitsu can.”
Van den Bogerd stated that she had solely stepped into the dialog between Mr Athwal and Gilliland to calm issues down as they have been getting heated, including: “However what I stated was correct as a result of no person at Submit Workplace had entry.”
Van den Bogerd is a central determine within the Submit Workplace Horizon scandal. Throughout a 2019 Excessive Court docket trial the place subpostmasters have been suing the Submit Workplace, Excessive Court docket choose Peter Fraser criticised Van der Bogerd’s proof for the Submit Workplace’s defence, saying she sought to mislead him.
An inquiry listening to on 25 April 2024 heard proof that she additionally misled the Excessive Court docket when she claimed the primary she knew of the flexibility for subpostmaster accounts accessed and altered to be by IT provider Fujitsu was in 2018. However the inquiry was proven proof that she was informed this was the case in three separate emails type 2010, 2011 and 2014.
Final yr, the general public inquiry was informed Fujitsu had no management over its workers in one in all its tech help groups accessing Submit Workplace department accounts remotely to make modifications with out the subpostmasters’ information.
The Submit Workplace scandal was first uncovered by Pc Weekly in 2009, revealing the tales of seven subpostmasters and the issues they suffered on account of accounting software program (see timeline of Pc Weekly articles concerning the scandal under).
Additionally learn: What that you must know concerning the Horizon scandal.
Additionally watch: ITV’s documentary – Mr Bates vs The Submit Workplace: The actual story.
