POLO00089071
POL00089071
3
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Post Office Ltd
CONFIDENTIAL
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
Statement of: Richard John CROSS
Age if under 18: = Over 18 (if over 18 insert ‘over 18’)
This statement (consisting of 2 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 17 day of September 2012
Signature
I am the person named above and have been employed by Post Office Ltd for 33 years and
my current role is as a Network Field Support Advisor which I have held since July 2008
and part of my duty is to visit and audit Post Office Branches. The purpose of this role is to
verify the assets held at a Post Office branch are correct and the transactions are
performed to the required specification to ensure the security of the Post Officer, its
customers and its clients by reconciling the figures in the Post Office accounts with the
physical cash, stock and paid vouchers actually on hand in order to establish that there is
no loss of Post Office funds and report the result of the audit.
At 08.00 hrs on 2 February 2012 I attended Winsford Post Office 19a Dingle Walk Winsford
CW7 1BA with my colleagues Ms Jane TIMMS, Mr Rob LYON, Mr Paul HAYHURST and Mr
Tim GORDON-POUNDER and introduced ourselves to the postmaster Mr Grant Allen and
explained the reason for our attendance at the branch.
Prior to the commencement of the audit Mr ALLEN asked me to accompany him to the
Office. He then said to me that the stock unit he used would be approximately £10,000
short. He stated that he had financial difficulties running the branch and was unable to
Signature Signature witnessed by
POLO11 (Side A) Version April 2012
POLO00089071
POL00089071
CONFIDENTIAL
Witness Statement
Criminal Justice Act 1967, Section 9, Magistrates Court Act 1980, sub section, 5A(3)a) and 58; Criminal Procedure Rules 2005, Rule 27.1"
Page of Pages
Continuation Statement of — Richard John CROSS
make good shortages in the accounts. Mr ALLEN further stated that he had inflated the
cash on hand figures. A record of this conversation (RC/1) was made. I now produce exhibit
RC/1.
A series of series of reports from the Horizon system were printed to ascertain the cash
and stock holdings that should be on hand at Winsford Post Office branch in order to
complete the audit.
I completed the audit and the result of the audit was a shortage of £13,166.25 on the day.
A debt of £4,645.24 had previously been centrally settled, making a total of £17,811.49
owed to Post Office Ltd.
A breakdown of the audit result and details of the audit findings are as follows:
Identified as a shortage in cash figures -£12,967.80
Identified as a shortage in stock figures -£ 55.26
Identified as a surplus in postage figures +£ 1.65
Outstanding transaction corrections not processed -£ 90,00
Discrepancy shortage as per office snapshot -£E 54.84
Outstanding debt previously settled centrally -£ 4,645.24
Total Shortage -£ 17,811.49
Signature Signature witnessed by
PoLo1a Version April 2012
POLO00089071
POL00089071
CONFIDENTIAL
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
Page of Pages
Continuation Statement of — Richard John CROSS
All figures are recorded onto an electronic document known as a P32.
At the end of the audit I also prepared a report and I now produce this as RC/2. I
At the end of the audit Mr ALLEN declined to perform his own independent check of the
cash and stock and the reason he gave was that the discrepancy was what he expected it to
be.
I relayed my findings to Ms Denise REID, Contracts Advisor who precautionary suspended
Mr ALLEN.
The reports printed off the Horizon system together with Branch Trading Statements have
been passed to the Post Office Ltd Security Team.
Signature Signature witnessed by
PoLom. Version April 2012