United Kingdom Archives - Page 6 of 12

Ex-Severn bosses face fraud questions

March 12, 2006/0 Comments/in Severn Trent Water /by ceadmin

Two former executives of Severn Trent Water are at the centre of a Serious Fraud Office investigation.

The company was ordered last week to hand back £42m to customers after a two-year investigation by regulator Ofwat, prompted by revelations in Financial Mail about the falsification of figures.

Ofwat sets bills based on accounts and reports provided by suppliers and it had given Severn Trent permission to raise prices at a higher rate than was justified based on the false figures

Severn Trent Water to repay customers

March 7, 2006/0 Comments/in Severn Trent Water /by ceadmin

In an interim report into allegations that first surfaced in 2004, Ofwat found incorrect income data and intentionally miscalculated debt figures would have had customers paying £42 ($75m) million more than justified by 2010.

Severn Trent overcharged its customers a total of £14m ($25m) over the 2004-7 period, according to the water company’s own statement.

The company has agreed to reduce price limits and return £42m to its 3

Shell told to pay Nigeria $1.5bn

February 24, 2006/0 Comments/in Shell /by ceadmin

A Nigerian court has ordered oil giant Shell’s local operation to pay $1.5bn to the Ijaw people of the Delta region.

The Ijaw have been fighting since 2000 for compensation for environmental degradation in the oil-rich region

Broker banned over illegal sales

February 21, 2006/0 Comments/in Xsavi /by ceadmin

Insurance broker Xsavi has had its permission to trade cancelled by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The broker, which is now insolvent, sold travel insurance to 2,000 consumers without having an underwriter in place.

As a result, consumers travelled abroad unaware that if something went wrong they could have been left in the lurch

Prosecution after Corus explosion

February 15, 2006/0 Comments/in Corus /by ceadmin

Corus is to face prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into a fatal blast furnace explosion in 2001.

Three workers were killed and another nine were badly injured at the Port Talbot steelworks.

Len Radford, from Maesteg, and Andrew Hutin and Stephen Galsworthy, from Port Talbot, died after the explosion

Asda faces $1.5m tribunal cost

February 10, 2006/0 Comments/in Asda /by ceadmin

Supermarket giant Asda discriminated against trade union members, an employment tribunal has ruled.

Workers at a depot in Washington, Tyne and Wear, had voted against a move to bring their conditions in line with non-union workers at a similar depot.

The company was found to be in breach of trade union legislation and faces paying out £850,000 in total – up to £2,500 to each of the 340 workers

FSA fines insurer over endowments

January 12, 2006/0 Comments/in Guardian Assurance /by ceadmin

Insurer Guardian Assurance and its associated company Guardian Linked Life have been fined $1 million (£750,000) for mishandling endowment complaints.

It is the fourth time that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined an insurance company for not dealing with complaints properly.

The FSA said Guardian’s complaints procedure had “serious systemic flaws”

eBay not doing enough on fraud

December 15, 2005/0 Comments/in Ebay /by ceadmin

EBay is under fire from law enforcement officials and manufacturers over levels of crime on the site and the levels of cooperation they receive.

Trading standards officers who regularly investigate crimes perpetrated on the site have accused eBay of being “obstructive” in the way it shares information. North Yorkshire Trading Standards says eBay can take up to two months to provide the names and addresses of suspects it is pursuing

BP could face US criminal charges

December 12, 2005/0 Comments/in BP Amoco /by ceadmin

BP may face criminal charges over the explosion at its giant Texas refinery that killed 15 workers last March.

The US Department of Labour has referred the case to the Department of Justice, which will now decide whether to pursue it.

The news came on the same day that BP issued its final report on the blast at its Texas City refinery near Houston, which also injured 170 people

Fraud probe at Severn Trent Water

October 31, 2005/0 Comments/in Severn Trent Water /by ceadmin

The Serious Fraud Office has begun an investigation into Severn Trent Water.

The office was contacted by water watchdog Ofwat which has been holding its own investigation into the company after allegations from an employee.

The allegations concern fears the water company provided unreliable information, particularly accounting inaccuracies, to Ofwat

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