EY, a prominent accounting firm, is currently under investigation by the UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regarding its audits of the Post Office during the Horizon scandal period from March 2015 to March 2018. The FRC will be examining whether EY adhered to its standards, specifically focusing on issues related to the Horizon IT system. This system, developed by Fujitsu, was central to the scandal that resulted in numerous postmasters being wrongly accused.
Acknowledging the seriousness of the situation, EY has expressed its commitment to cooperating fully with the FRC during the investigation. Meanwhile, the Post Office has refrained from making any comments on the matter. In a significant turn of events, sub-postmaster activists Lee Castleton, Seema Misra, and Chris Head are set to receive OBEs at Windsor Castle, highlighting the ongoing impact of the Horizon scandal.
The Horizon scandal, considered one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in the UK, saw over 900 sub-postmasters facing prosecution due to inaccurate information provided by the Horizon system. Shockingly, between 1999 and 2015, the Post Office itself pursued legal action against 700 individuals. One key question that remains unanswered is the whereabouts of the funds wrongfully extracted from the victims of the scandal.
Notably, while the FRC has emphasized the importance of examining the role of statutory auditors in meeting auditing standards at the time, it clarified that the recent public hearings on the Horizon scandal did not cover EY’s audits of the Post Office. In a revealing moment during an inquiry in June 2024, it was disclosed that EY had cautioned Alice Perkins, the Post Office’s chair in 2011, about the risks associated with the Horizon software. Queries were raised regarding the software’s data accuracy, with a sub-postmaster highlighting system issues, although Perkins did not address these concerns internally or reference the EY meeting in subsequent years amidst ongoing Horizon inquiries
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