Medway Council calls for IOPC probe into dropped MCG fraud case

Medway Council has unanimously voted to ask the police watchdog to examine why Kent Police shelved a seven-year fraud inquiry into Medway Commercial Group.

Medway councillors demand watchdog scrutiny of shelved fraud inquiry

Medway Council has voted unanimously to refer a disputed fraud investigation to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), bbc.co.uk reports, after Kent Police dropped a seven-year probe into alleged financial wrongdoing at Medway Commercial Group (MCG).

The full council meeting on Thursday approved the proposal, with council leader Vince Maple describing the move as a reluctant but necessary measure. "On an operational level, Medway Council and Kent Police have a good working relationship — but on this case, in this investigation, Kent Police have badly let down the taxpayers of Medway," he said.

Kent Police shelved the case on the grounds that it did not meet the evidential standards required to proceed, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Medway Council will now write to the IOPC arguing the investigation was "poorly resourced, ineffectively conducted and managed, and lacked the characteristics of a thorough, effective and/or efficient process".

MCG served as the council's trading arm from December 2015, responsible for delivering services including CCTV. Concerns about the organisation were first raised in October 2018 when a whistleblower contacted the council's chief legal officer, alleging that some officers were potentially using the company for personal gain.

Papers published ahead of Thursday's meeting named senior figures including chairman Andrew Mackness, chief executive Ian Price, and board member Vikram Sahdev. All three were questioned by fraud officers, but no formal finding of wrongdoing was made against any of them and none has been charged.

In a statement issued last week, Mackness denied any wrongdoing. Sahdev declined to comment, and attempts to contact Price have so far been unsuccessful.

Under normal circumstances, a request for IOPC intervention would be directed to Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott. However, Mackness previously served as Scott's election agent, creating a potential conflict of interest. The referral is therefore being made directly to the IOPC. There is no suggestion Scott has acted improperly in any way.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)