But today I tried to verify the problem on the HL site and found no evidence whatever of the type of activity I talked about on the 12th., so I am quite hopelessly mystified.
This is the trouble with amateurs.
Here is what I had written:-
Here is one way this fraud could have been done.
Yesterday, when logging in to my Hargreaves Lansdown stockbroking account I discovered a way (possibly the way) this (horizon) fraud was performed!
Here is what happened:-
I decided to save my account details on my own computer, but then decided I ought to have a closer look, so when I clicked on the file the address given in the address bar was not my computer but theirs! This puts them in a position to alter the account just as much as they please, and without quite a lot of research I will never know. They can help themselves to whatever they think they can get away with and my record will always appear to be right.
It seems very unlikely that they did not know this possibility after all these years in business, so one must query their integrity.
I am still waiting in hope of discovering what he meant when he said (through a spokesman, presumably because he is too important to talk directly to the public) that he didn't recall being briefed or being aware of the scale of this issue. That seems to me to say that whilst he was aware of the issue he did not recall thinking then (or now?) that it was important! These things are all relative, and for such a hugely important man as Cameron would it not be necessary to enquire if anything needed doing to get these people out of prison? Possibly not. Or anyway not to someone like him.
Another aspect of this matter is the question of whether Cameron or anybody else in the government or civil service received a substantial sum of money from Fujitsu at the time of the contract being agreed. Nobody seems to want to answer - not even to deny what has been suggested.
Perhaps one can make a freedom of information enquiry of Fujitsu? Or of the Post Office (which is a government department)?
The public really should know. And neither should there be anybody left in prison over this particular matter.
Of course Fujitsu's spokesman has said anybody wrongly convicted as a result of their software should be adequately compensated (and as the years go by this will get ever cheaper for them as people die off). That sounds expensive and it does not mention whether people should be compensated if Fujitsu has been meddling in their accounts. This is also, of course, a very big issue for the directors of this corporation. It would only take one whistleblower who knows something to bring them down, and as the directors are concerned about share values they might fight like hell to avoid it. There is also the danger of landing in prison for a very long spell for the directors or anyone else fiddling the accounts.
And finally, will this matter be kept under wraps until after an election? Papers reported that the planned Post Office investigation into the matter was cancelled. The seedy bunch of sods.
I have to admit I think it an absolute disgrace that a politician suspected of having accepted bribes should be sent to the Middle East as a diplomat.
What do these people think they are doing?
I once lived in a country district. Two of my nearest neighbours were old Etonians. One was the local 'peer of the realm' and the other was his cousin. Over many years there had been multiple burglaries of antiques from farmhouses in which all the antique furniture had been pinched. I decided to investigate what happened to all this valuable stuff (especially as some of it was mine), and after a few weeks I realised the likely explanation.These two seemed to be persuading drug addicts from out of district to enrol at the local WEA using their benefits to pay the fees and local rent, and then persuading them to burgle people - and offering to buy any antiques they should happen to pick up. This was probably rewarded with a supply of drugs as well as money.
So I imagine one cannot trust all old Etonians.
Cameron (an old Etonian) has not made any further statement about the Horizon scandal.
Here is a conversation from a local sub-postoffice:
"A book of second-class stamps, please"
"Thank you"
"Has Cameron owned up yet?"
"No, of course not. Would you? How can you get justice in this country?"
"I don't know. You just have to take a chance. It's a fluke if it happens."
Today's news papers are talking about the government passing a law that will exonerate everyone (including the dead, who I am sure will be thrilled to bits) all by the end of July, and an option to settle for £600,000 'without having to make a claim'. Boy! What a snip for 17 years of incarceration!
We need to look at what you can buy for £600K:-
1. About 25% of a good house in central London (not a posh part)
2. A pension of about £25k per annum if you are 60, and less if you are younger.
3. An annuity, which when you die will stop paying, so that your dependants will inherit nothing, but you might be lucky and they die first
4. Some shares in firms owned by some of our politicians. These might increase or decrease in value and could become worthless.
5. Fixed interest from a building society, which will be very low if you want it fixed for a long period or much higher but a risk of it reducing to very nearly nothing at the whim of 'the markets'. 2% of £600k per annum would be £12,000 (I think) and not really enough to live on. Work it out if you can. The state pension comes to about £8k if you are over 75
6. Shares in Fujitsu
7. shares generally
8. shares in an investment trust
And some of you might be old enough to remember Emil Savundra and the bankruptcy of Legal and General insurance.
In fact, as far as I can see this is just a cynical and unfair offer, and the publicity for it has been put out by a desperate government
But we still have no idea who got a backhander and how much was paid by Fujitsu to those facilitating the deal. They have remained remarkably silent since their attempt to clean up their image, and the question of how these postmasters' accounts showed losses they could not recognise has never really been asked.
They could, of course, categorically deny that any such thing happened.
So could various civil servants and politicians.But dare they?
Following is our previous comment.
POST OFFICE HORIZON SCANDAL.
A brief update.
Today I decided I would try to make this article more understandable, so here is a bit more on this subject:
Fujitsu Shares rise
Between 25th October last year and today, Fujitsu Shares have risen from Y17k to Y24k, and I am wondering if this is because the markets believe that Fujitsu have managed to get away with certain crimes. I don't suppose we will ever know.
Here is what I wrote today: (one must remember I am suffering from long covid so please forgive any errors)
A large number of postmasters are still in prison with no apparent case left against them, and I am told a few have died there. One has to assume this is happening because of persons wishing to save their own skins and possibly not for any other reason. Nevertheless the suggestion that our present crew are worried that revelations will ruin their chances in an election has been made. It does not matter much what party is supported or what they purport to stand for. They will all largely do what civil servants advise them to do.
And were civil servants partly or even fully responsible for this huge crime?
However, the self-seeking behaviour of those who grasp for power is such that the best they are likely to manage will be to make a token statement which tries to suggest they care about other people. But see Cameron's statement re Horizon below, for instance, which makes no attempt at expressing empathy or even sympathy. It is extremely evasive and vague. Many people could believe (and some probably do believe) he is trying to avoid detection. I am rather that way myself, but so far have found nothing that actually proves the case.
Only time might tell.
What everybody seems to be trying to avoid is implication of any kind in what appears to be the biggest financial crime of last year.
These unfortunate postmasters will probably stay in prison for no known reason until at least after an election - and numerous criminals will be allowed to get away with siphoning public money to the tune of billions - probably for the rest of their lives.
Vote for who you like. It is unlikely to make any difference.
Here is earlier text on this subject:
24 February 2024.
It seems to me that there has been not just a gross miscarriage of justice here. There has been a gross miscarriage of ethics, a gross miscarriage of honesty and probably a very great amount of money changing hands.
Somebody - probably several people - involved in the purchase of the Horizon software will presumably have received a major sum of money for being so helpful to Fujitsu. The exact scale of this backhander may never be known, but it would be worth trying to find out.
Meanwhile, as every single prison sentence is in question for perfectly good reasons all prisoners should be set free immediately and given a decent income to survive on pending further enquiries, after which, if any are found by an honest court to be guilty, those few can be re-sentenced.
But also, there need to be serious enquiries by persons other than politicians (in addition to politicians and police of course) about what happened.
21 Feb. Further (and predictable) evidence has appeared today: It is alleged Fujitsu had rigged up a way they could get into accounts remotely. If this is so, then there is no case left for our government or the post office to continue to hold anybody in jail, and the compensation that should be paid will be immeasurable and should be paid pronto.
But it won't end there.
CAMERON (who was allegedly prime minister at the time when the Horizon software was bgought by Britain's Post Office - Royal Mail) is reported to have said 'I don't recall in any detail being briefed or being aware of the scale of this issue'. Does he mean that he knew about the matter but thought it too minor for such a very important person as himself to give it any thought? After all, a few postmasters in prison should not bother one such as he. And is he entirely devoid of dishonesty? Personally, I doubt it.
We are all theoretically responsible for the politicians we elect, so why did we elect such people? And how many more are there? They will all try to blame each other and/or another party, or on Fujitsu (whilst not mentioning their own part). There are people in jail for no known reason and others out doing their best to cover things up.What the hell is this nation doing?
I think we are yet to see the end of this matter. Are all the big operators on the internet just a collection of crooks who know how to fiddle people? Is Fujitsu one massive collection of criminals using a whole bunch of dupes to make themselves into billionaires, and are a few politicians part of this scheme? You would need such people to keep the whole thing quiet.
I am intending to write about Amazon when I get a bit of time, because I think we may find similar activities there.
On a lighter note:
1. When Blair's government was elected in '97 Gabriele Gad and I were engaged to play at their celebratory party in Battersea. During the evening a member of the audience approached us and asked if we would play in the House of Commons. Yes, we said.
"and what would you charge?" said she (for it was a woman).
We quoted whatever we had quoted for that evening.
"That's not enough" she said and continued on to argue about how much it should really be.
They didn't book us. We were not expensive enough I suppose.
They had not even set up shop and were already searching for ways of getting at some cash. Great god, what a shower.
2.An internet search for 'Joshua Harris Southwark' brought up a lot of suggestions including 'buy Joshua Harris from Amazon'. It also brought up in second place an article about a collection of people (about 35 of them) who police had investigated in connection with fraud!
Interestingly, whilst it named all suspects, I could not find any mention of Joshua Harris amongst them. Something wrong here. Maybe some computor expert can discover how this happened.
othernews.co.uk