Head of Fujitsu Apologizes for Damage to Innocently Convicted Workers of UK Post Offices
The head of the European unit Fujitsu, Paul Patterson, has acknowledged that the company has a “moral obligation” to compensate the innocent workers of British post offices who were wrongly convicted. The convictions were based on the use of Fujitsu’s Horizon software in the postal service, a fact that the company confirms it was aware of. This was reported by the BBC, citing statements from individuals involved in the incident [source].
The CEO of Fujitsu, Takahito Tokita, has also issued an apology, recognizing the impact of the situation on the lives of the post office workers and their families.
According to the BBC, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a significant shortfall was discovered in several post offices in the UK. Some post office managers immediately attributed the problem to the Horizon software, which was falsely reporting discrepancies of thousands of pounds. However, as a result of the investigation, over 900 postal employees were held accountable for falsifying accounting documents and embezzlement.
This situation is being recognized as the most extensive case of judicial injustice in the history of Great Britain. To date, only 93 convictions have been overturned, leaving thousands of individuals still awaiting compensation after more than 20 years. Some managers were wrongly imprisoned, many faced financial ruin, and unfortunately, some have passed away since then.
A representative from Scottish law enforcement has apologized to the victims, stating that the postal service misled their agency. In England and Wales, most of the prosecutions were carried out by the postal service itself.
Takahito Tokita did not confirm whether Fujitsu would be returning the profits earned from the faulty Horizon system. During a hearing in front of the Parliamentary Committee on Business and Trade, Paul Patterson suggested that the company’s employees were aware of the issues with Horizon prior to 2010. The head of the postal service, Nick Reed, who took on the role in 2019, was unable to provide an exact date when they became aware of the possibility of remote access to the system.
One of the victims compared the process