LONDON (NEWSnet/AP) — Fujitsu, the company whose faulty computer accounting system resulted in the wrongful conviction of hundreds of Post Office branch managers in United Kingdom, apologized Tuesday.
Paul Patterson, Europe director of Japan's Fujitsu Ltd., told lawmakers the company will provide funds to compensate branch managers, some of whom were imprisoned for theft or fraud for the failure of the accounting software, introduced in 1999.
“I think there is a moral obligation for the company to contribute,” Patterson said. “To the sub-postmasters and their families, Fujitsu would like to apologize for our part in this appalling miscarriage of justice."
Patterson said he had spoken with his bosses in Japan and that Fujitsu knew “from the very start” that the system, known as Horizon, had “bugs and errors,” and, despite that, had helped the Post Office in its prosecutions of branch managers after unexplained losses were found in their accounts.
Although Patterson's admission was welcomed by lawmakers, he and Post Office Chief Executive Nick Read were criticized for failing to be more precise about the chronology of the scandal.
Read said the Post Office has changed drastically over the past few years and has earmarked around a billion pounds ($1.3 billion) for compensation. He confirmed it will not pursue any additional prosecutions and it seeks to replace the Horizon system at its branches.
After the Post Office introduced the Horizon information technology system 25 years ago to automate sales accounting, managers began finding unexplained losses that bosses said they were responsible to cover.
Last week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said legislation to reverse the convictions will be presented to lawmakers.
Parliament's Business and Trade Committee is attempting to determine how to expedite compensation for victims.
The Post Office maintained that Horizon was reliable and accused branch managers of dishonesty. From 2000 to 2014, more than 900 postal employees were wrongly convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting.
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