Horizon scandal: More than £1m claimed as Post Office ‘profit’ may have come from sub-postmasters
More than £1m of unexplained transactions were transferred in to Post Office profit at the height of the Horizon scandal, leaked documents have shown.
The papers, seen by Sky News, show a snapshot of transfers from a Post Office “miscellaneous client” suspense account over a four-year period, up to 2014.
A suspense account is where unexplained, or disputed, transactions remain until they are able to be “reconciled”.
Unaccounted-for transactions were transferred out of the Post Office suspense account and into their profit and loss account after three years.
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Ian Henderson, director of Second Sight – the forensic accountants hired years ago by Post Office – said: “The Post Office was not printing money. It was accumulating funds in its suspense account.
“Those funds belong to somebody, either to third-party clients or to sub-postmasters, and part of the work we were doing in 2015 was drilling into that.”
Mr Henderson said they were sacked not long after asking questions about whether the Post Office profited from shortfalls paid for by sub-postmasters.
Mr Henderson told Sky News that the money could potentially have come from sub-postmasters’ pockets
More than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted due to faults with Horizon accounting software.
A letter from Alisdair Cameron, the Post Office’s chief financial officer, to Second Sight in February 2015 states some “postings cannot be traced” to “underlying transactions”.
He added: “We are not always able to drill back from the combined totals to itemise all the underlying transactions.”
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Mr Henderson said the letter shows that “the Post Office was benefiting from this uncertainty due to, frankly, bad record keeping, but taking it to the benefit of their profit and loss account”.
He maintains that it’s impossible to prove for sure that sub-postmasters’ money went into Post Office profit because of a “lack of granularity”.
He says therefore that it is of “sufficient public interest” that a further independent review into the use of suspense accounts should happen.
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Mr Henderson added: “It didn’t come from thin air, where did the money come from? That’s a fundamental question the Post Office has not answered.”
Meanwhile, separately, a secret recording obtained by Sky News indicates that the Post Office was trying to gag the independent forensic accountants.
The recording is of a meeting in January 2014 between Second Sight, a lawyer and a Post Office representative.
It took place over a year before the accountants were sacked.
In the conference call, there are signs the relationship between the Post Office and Second Sight was beginning to weaken.
There is discussion about a contractual confidentiality agreement, a “letter of engagement” between the parties.
In the recording, Ian Henderson says: “Either, you know, we have unfettered discretion and authorisation to just talk to MPs or we haven’t.
“At the moment, the way the document is drafted, we are prevented from doing that. That’s the issue.”
His colleague at Second Sight, Ron Warmington is heard agreeing.
In another part of the recording, there are more concerns raised that the investigators are being blocked from talking to MPs.
Mr Henderson says: “My point is we should not be gagging either the applicant or Second Sight in being able to respond, you know, fully and frankly to MPs who frankly sort of set this whole process in motion.”
The Post Office representative replies, saying they’re not trying to gag anybody.
Mr Henderson describes “a point of principle”: “In exactly the same way that when we were doing spot reviews, we disclosed to MPs, when they asked us a specific question, the information provided to us by Fujitsu and by Post Office.
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“And that’s why it’s so important to establish this principle that there should be no gagging of Second Sight in relation to being able to discuss our investigative work with MPs.”
In the same meeting, his colleague Ron Warmington said that if it later emerges that Second Sight have been “effectively gagged” in its dealing with MPs, “it’s not going to be Second Sight they are particularly annoyed with, it’s going to be Post Office”.
The representative responds directly with: “I think that’s something that the Post Office will have to deal with if – if it arises.”
Adding that “some of the terminology in terms of gagging is probably an exaggeration of what it is that is trying to be done here, and at the moment you haven’t signed anything.”
The Post Office released a statement in response to the findings, saying: “The statutory public inquiry, chaired by a judge with the power to question witnesses under oath, is the best forum to examine the issues raised by this evidence.
“We continue to remain fully focused on supporting the inquiry to get to the truth of what happened and accountability for that.”
The Princess of Wales has said cancer “makes you appreciate all the small things in life” as she met patients and staff at the hospital that treated her.
Kate had words of support – and hugs – for those dealing with the disease at London’s Royal Marsden Hospital.
She thanked medical teams during the visit – which was also the first confirmation of where she was treated.
As she arrived, the princess said it was nice to enter through the main entrance after “having made so many quiet, private visits”.
Kate met a woman wearing a cold cap, who was on her first day of treatment, and told several patients to try to keep “doing the things that give you joy”.
Pic: Reuters
Pic: PA
Pic: Reuters
Talking about a cancer diagnosis, Kate said: “It makes you appreciate all the small things in life that you take for granted.”
“It’s really tough,” she told one patient having chemotherapy. “It’s such a shock”.
She added: “It’s the uncertainty of that initial diagnosis.
“It’s such a wealth of information. Understanding the diagnosis, it’s a massive amount of information to take on as a patient.”
Kate said trying to stay positive had made “such a difference” – and that getting “loads of water and loads of sunlight” had helped her feel better.
The 43-year-old revealed in September she had finished chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer, calling the last six months “incredibly tough”.
In March 2024, the princess confirmed she was having preventative treatment after tests following abdominal surgery found cancer had been present.
The princess was also introduced to therapy dog Scout. Pic: PA
Kensington Palace said the princess had wanted to “show her gratitude to the incredible team, but also highlight the world-leading care and treatment the Marsden provides”.
During the visit, Kate said she was feeling well, but recalled the toll treatment can take, saying “sometimes you feel relatively well, and then you have another one”.
“Sometimes from the outside we all think you’ve finished treatment and you go back to things. But it’s hard to get back to normal,” she added.
As she left, she hugged a woman who appeared to be a visitor, assuring her there was “light at the end of that tunnel” and “you are in the best of hands”.
Prince William praised his wife’s strength last week as he shared a picture to mark her birthday and called her “the most incredible wife and mother”.
He added: “The strength you’ve shown over the last year has been remarkable. George, Charlotte, Louis and I are so proud of you. Happy Birthday, Catherine. We love you. W.”
William previously described 2024 as “brutal” and probably “the hardest year” of his life after the King was also diagnosed with cancer.
Kate will now join Prince William as a royal patron of the Royal Marsden – a leading specialist cancer hospital that treats more than 59,000 patients every year.
Despite today’s hospital visit, Kensington Palace stressed the princess’s return to public-facing duties would continue to take place gradually.
“Today was about visiting the Marsden to reflect on her own personal journey,” a spokesperson said.
Anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq has been named by investigators in Bangladesh who allege she was involved in the illegal allocation of land to members of her family while serving as an MP.
Sky News has obtained an affidavit – or legal written statement – filed by the anti-corruption commission in Bangladesh that accuses Ms Siddiq and others of being involved in fraudulently obtaining plots in the diplomatic zone of a development near to the country’s capital Dhaka.
The document states: “While serving as a Member of the British parliament, it is known that [Ms Siddiq] exerted pressure and influence on her aunt, the former prime minister, to take measures for the allotment of plots in the same project in the names of her mother, Mrs Rehana Siddiq, her sister Ms Azmina Siddiq, and her brother Mr Radwan Mujib Siddiq.”
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Tulip Siddiq MP in 2019. Pic: Reuters
The director general of the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission Akhtar Hossain told Sky News: “Tulip Siddiq and former prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina misused… power to take the plot from the Purbachal New Town Project.”
Investigators allege that planning officials were bribed and pressured into fraudulently allocating land.
A Labour source said Tulip Siddiq totally refutes the claims and had not been contacted by anyone on the matter.
The source also said no evidence had been presented for the allegations.
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Tulip Siddiq is asked if she will step down but gives no indication one way or the other.
Tulip Siddiq had already been named in Bangladeshi court documents, also seen by Sky News, relating to alleged embezzlement from a nuclear power project in the country.
Labour sources suggested the accusations were not genuine.
That court claim was made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Ms Siddiq’s aunt – the former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Ms Hasina fled Bangladesh in August and resigned her post amid weeks of deadly protests.
The new government has since accused the previous Awami League administration of crimes and corruption while in office.
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Tulip Siddiq has come under increasing pressure over her links to her aunt’s political party, with Sky News revealing she boasted about her connections to the Awami League in blog posts from 2008 and 2009.
The anti-corruption minister has also been found to have lived in several London properties with links to alleged allies of her aunt’s regime.
Tulip Siddiq (far left) with her aunt, Sheikh Hasina (third left), and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a 2013 signing ceremony in the Kremlin as Moscow lent $1.5bn to help build a nuclear power station. File pic: AP
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has since called for her to be suspended as a minister.
The UK Anti-Corruption Coalition has also said Ms Siddiq should step aside from the money laundering and economic crime brief she currently holds.
“The clear conflict of interest surrounding Tulip Siddiq presents a key test for the new government… as anti-corruption experts, it is clear to us that she should not hold responsibility for these sensitive areas in her portfolio”, said Peter Munro, senior coordinator at the anti-corruption coalition.
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