Fujitsu admits “moral obligation” to compensate Post Office victims

Fujitsu – the Japanese company at the centre of the Post Office scandal – has agreed to help compensate local post office managers affected by its faulty Horizon IT system. Paul Patterson, its European chief executive, told MPs yesterday the company was “truly sorry” and there was a “moral obligation” for Fujitsu to contribute. Patterson also admitted to knowing that the Horizon system had “bugs and errors” while the company was supporting the Post Office in bringing wrongful prosecutions against hundreds of subpostmasters. On the slopes of Davos, Takahito Tokita, Fujitsu’s global chief executive, said it was “a big issue which Fujitsu takes very seriously”. The UK government has already set aside £1 billion for the 700 people convicted and 4,000 people affected and the government’s postal affairs ministers said negotiations with Fujitsu over compensation would come after the conclusion of the public inquiry. To note: the Post Office has spent more than £2.9 billion on Horizon and Fujitsu is still the government’s leading software supplier.