POL00044037
POL00044037
a
Witness Statement Post Office Ltd
Criminal Justice Act 1967, Section 9; Magistrates Court Act 1980,
sub section. 5A(3)(a) and 5B; Criminal Procedure Rules 2005, Rule
274
Statement of Frances Ann ELLIS
Age if under 18 Over 18 (If over 18 insert ‘over 18')
This statement (consisting of _ pages each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief
and I make it knowing that, if it is tendered in evidence, I shall be liable to prosecution if I have wilfully
stated in it anything, which I know to be false or do not believe true.
Dated the 31 day of August 2012
Signature
I am the above named person and one of the trustees of Animals in Need charity. I registered
Animals in Need in 1991.
We run four funded dog shows a year and all other fund raising donations were banked at
Fazakerley Post Office by either my husband Ronald Thomas ELLIS or Maureen MORGAN who is one
of our treasurers. My husband would make the majority of the bankings.
In approximately July or August 2011 I noticed that the bankings were not being credited on time. I
contacted our bank the CO-OP and explained that there was a gap in the region of 10 days and the
amount paid in did not match what was credited on the day. I was informed that the bankings may
take longer that I thought to be credited.
In approximately September 2011, I started checking the paying in books against the statements. I
noticed that the amount paid in did not match what was on the statement for that date.
! again contacted CO-OP bank and was told that sometimes the amounts did not match due to
cheques being paid in. I explained that the gap had increased to four weeks, he replied that he
Signature Signature witnessed by
POLO11 (Side A) Version April 2012
POL00044037
POL00044037
Witness Statement
Criminal Justice Act 1967, Section 9; Magistrates Court Act 1980, sub section. 5A(3)(a) and 5B; criminal Procedure Rules 2005, Rule 27.1
Continuation of statement of Frances Ann ELLIS
money sometimes went into an holding account and would take longer to be credited. I asked CO-OP
to look into this problem, but they never got back to me. I had already told the other trustee's that
there was a problem with the money. Due to this problem there was a cash flow problem and we
had to transfer money from a HBOS restricted fund to cover the shortage in the account in order to
pay the bills.
I had already spoken to our book keeper Chris DIXON and he thought it was due to late banking. In
November 20111 I spoke again with Chris and he said that he had identified bankings that started off
with a few weeks delay extending up to a few months.
I obtained all the paying in slips and sent them to Chris to check the deposits against the statements;
I also sent photocopies to the CO-OP.
From this point due to the stress I was under Chris DIXON took over all responsibility in dealing with
the bank.
To the best of my knowledge nobody from Animals in Need Charity informed the Post Office that
bankings were late being credited.
In November 2011 during a conversation with the CO-OP they informed me to continue making the
bankings at the Post Office and keep a record. I made a decision to stop the bankings at the Post I
was told by Chris DIXON that the accounts were audited and there were no outstanding deposits as
of 31* March 2011.
Signature Signature witnessed by
POLO11A Version April 2012