The public reappraisal of one of the major economic scandals in Great Britain made waves again this week.
In the so-called post office scandal, more than 700 post office managers were unjustly convicted because of faulty computer software.
Philip Pickert
Business correspondent based in London.
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The IT program Horizon of the Japanese manufacturer Fujitsu had reported alleged irregularities in their accounting.
The "sub-postmasters" in the branches were suspected of having embezzled money.
In nearly a thousand cases between 2000 and 2014, the Post Office Ltd.
employees.
"Program Errors, Errors and Defects"
More than 700 sub-postmasters were sentenced, some even going to prison.
The committee of inquiry has now described this as "one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British legal history".
A good two years ago, the Post Office had to admit the mistakes.
The High Court ruled at the time that the state-owned company had relied on a Fujitsu computer system that contained "bugs, errors and defects".
In the meantime, 70 convicts have been rehabilitated.
Although the events happened years ago, many of those affected are still suffering to this day.
This became clear in the inquiry, which began under the presidency of retired judge Sir Wyn Williams.
Failed marriages and broken families
Former Post manager Seema Misra says she was pregnant when she was sentenced to prison in 2010.
Others told of failed marriages and broken families.
Vipinchandra Patel, Oxfordshire store manager, whose conviction was overturned in 2020, said: "The past nine years have been hell for me, a nightmare."
A store manager slipped into debt after the conviction, lost her home and ultimately relied on the Salvation Army for help to get food and clothing for herself and her daughter.
Baljit Sethi, who ran a post office in Essex for two decades, told how he was suspected of embezzling around £17,000.
He pointed out early on that the IT system was faulty.
"But no one wanted to listen."
He lost his job and had to file for personal bankruptcy.
Store manager Jo Hamilton has been charged with allegedly stealing £36,000.
She lost "the best years of my life" as a result.
Convict Hughie Noel Thomas received a letter from the Post Office in 2019 with a check for £3,000 "for the inconvenience of going to jail".
The Department of Commerce has awarded the Post Office Ltd.
a total of around 1.2 billion euros), most recently a large loan at the end of 2021 to cover the consequences of the scandal.
The company said it was "deeply sorry for the fallout from the Horizon scandal."
In 2019, following court proceedings, it agreed to pay £58m to 555 complainants.
After deducting legal costs, they were left with £12million.
Now injured parties should each receive up to 100,000 pounds.
There are more than 2400 applications.
So far, no one has been held accountable, either at the Post Office or at Fujitsu.