Paula Vennells was warned that postmasters’ accounts could be remotely accessed and the numbers altered more than a decade ago, it was suggested last night.
The Horizon IT system ruined the lives of hundreds of Post Office workers when it mistakenly made it look like money was missing from their branches. Postmasters were wrongly blamed for the shortfalls and made to cover the losses, with hundreds convicted and some put in prison.
A secret recording obtained by Channel 4 News has suggested that senior Post Office staff were aware that the figures for branch accounts could be changed as long ago as 2013.
On the tape, the organisation’s chief lawyer Susan Crichton claims Ms Vennells had been briefed about a “covert operations team” at Fujitsu’s Bracknell headquarters that could remotely alter the numbers.
“[Paula] knows about the allegation. She knows we are working on it”, Ms Crichton is heard telling investigators brought in to look into potential problems with Horizon. “She's got everything. The way that I've tried to brief Paula is, as soon as I have evidence that, you know, that there is a problem, she knows about it the next minute.”
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Two years later in 2015, Ms Vennells told the Commons business committee that there was no evidence of miscarriages of justice at the Post Office. And in 2020, in a letter to the committee’s chair to say that she “raised this question repeatedly, both internally and with Fujitsu, and was always given the same answer: that it was not possible for branch records to be altered remotely without the sub-postmaster’s knowledge”.
Ms Vennells announced earlier this year that she would hand back her CBE amid public anger over the scandal in the wake of the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
Alan Bates led a group of 555 workers who took the Post Office to court. The High Court found in their favour in 2019 after they successfully argued that it was possible for Fujitsu, the firm behind the Horizon software, to access their accounts without their knowledge and change the numbers.
Mr Bates is due to give evidence to the Post Office Inquiry when it resumes hearings next week. Ms Vennells and Ms Crichton are both expected to appear in the coming weeks.
The Post Office, Ms Vennells and Ms Crichton declined to comment when contacted by Channel 4 News.
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