Fujitsu Europe’s boss has admitted the firm has a “moral obligation” to contribute to compensation for sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted as a result of its faulty IT software.
Paul Patterson said Fujitsu gave evidence to the Post Office that was used to prosecute innocent managers.
He added that the Post Office knew about “bugs and errors” in its Horizon accountancy software early on.
The global chief executive of Fujitsu, Takahito Tokita, also apologised.
Making his first public comments on the scandal to the BBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Tokita said: “This is a big issue, which Fujitsu takes very seriously.”
When asked if he would apologise, he added: “Yes, of course. Fujitsu has apologised for the impact on the postmasters’ lives and their families.”
Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters and postmistresses were prosecuted for theft and false accounting after money appeared to be missing from their branches, but the prosecutions were based on evidence from faulty Horizon software.
Some sub-postmasters wrongfully went to prison, many were financially ruined. Some have since died.
