SLAP ON WRIST FOR SEVERN TRENT

02-07-2008

Birmingham-based Severn Trent Water has been fined just £2million for lying to the regulator Ofwat – no more than a slap on the wrist for a company which made profits last year of more than £250 million.

The company admitted under-reporting the amount of leaks in 2001 and 2002 in a (successful) effort to avoid costly repairs to its pipes.

Severn Trent was also fined £35million in April for mis-reporting details of its performance figures – though even this was less than the £42million they had screwed from customers by underhand means.

As we revealed at the time, despite this litany of large-scale fraud, the Serious Fraud Office decided there was “no public interest” in prosecuting the bosses responsible.

Those responsible have now moved on – not just porridge-free, but presumably with ill-gained bonuses and pension pots intact.

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