Post Office IT firm Fujitsu 'knew software faulty before victims given system'
IT firm Fujitsu has been accused of knowing the software at the centre of the Post Office scandal was faulty before rolling out its system to victims.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, investigative journalist and author Nick Wallis claimed the Japanese tech company was fully aware of the problems before handing the Horizon kit out to nearly 20,000 Post Offices. Pressure is mounting on Fujitsu to compensate subpostmasters after thousands were affected, with many losing money, some their homes and liberty, and a few their lives.
Evidence from the faulty computer system secured the prosecutions of 700 sub-postmasters between 2000 and 2014, with the Post Office prosecuting them for false accounting, fraud and theft. Now the campaigner says he is certain they knew things weren't right when the new software was first installed 25 years ago.
Author Nick Wallis has made the claims against the tech giant (ITV)He was asked by presenter Susanna Reid: "At what point do you think Fujitsu knew it was a fault with the system itself, and not with the subpostmasters?" Nick responded: "Before and after the system was rolled out to the 19,600 Post Offices across the country in 1999, Fujitsu was told internally by their own engineers that their cash accounting system didn't work and needed to be re-written.
"Before it was rolled out. After, they persuaded the Post Office to accept it into the network, even though there was another internal report and they would told it doesn't add up. They said instead that they were going to try and fix it on the fly. Fujitsu built their own UK empire on the profits on the broken backs of the subpostmasters."
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Susanna Reid was shocked by his accusations (ITV)The subject of subpostmasters and the Horizon scandal has made headlines for weeks after ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office was aired. The four-part series demonstrated the cost to the individuals involved. The Government has continued to work with Fujitsu in the wake of the scandal and has awarded it public sector contracts worth £3billion in the last 10 years. In November, the Post Office extended one contract with the firm – worth an estimated £36million – through to March 2025.
In a statement Fujitsu said: “The current Post Office Horizon IT statutory inquiry is examining complex events stretching back over 20 years to understand who knew what, when, and what they did with that knowledge. The Inquiry has reinforced the devastating impact on postmasters’ lives and that of their families, and Fujitsu has apologised for its role in their suffering. Fujitsu is fully committed to supporting the inquiry in order to understand what happened and to learn from it. Out of respect for the inquiry process, it would be inappropriate for Fujitsu to comment further at this time."
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