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Abbey bank and a private investigation firm that it hired to trace the source of a rogue document will face legal scrutiny today as they are summoned before an inquest into the death of Richard Chang, an IT worker at the bank. According to a Sunday newspaper, 48-year-old Chang fell from a fifth-floor balcony at Abbey HQ in July last year, within an hour of being questioned by representatives from investigating firm Kroll. They were hired to unearth the source of an anonymous document that circulated at the bank last year, alleging favouritism and corruption obstructed the way IT contracts were awarded to outside contractors. Chang’s sister, Valerie, told the Mail on Sunday how she hopes the inquest will uncover the truth, and determine whether investigators exerted undue pressure on her brother and whether his rights as an Abbey employee were respected. “We want to get to the bottom of it all,” said Ms Chang, one of the IT worker’s most vocal supporters. “But we are dealing with a multi-national company and it is not going to be easy.” In court, barrister Christopher McNicholas, who specialises in personal injury and is a former banker at HSBC and SG Warburg, will represent Valeria Chang and her family. They are expected to hear how Kroll was hired to trace the source of the document after Keith Woodley, then deputy chairman of the bank, decided the allegations concerning unfair selection of IT contractors at Abbey was false. At the time, four employees were suspected of being behind the written accusations, one of which was Chang and another was his IT manager, Vincent Santeng. Santeng and two Abbey employees who witnessed their colleague’s fall will be requested to give evidence, as will Howard Jones and Peter Pender-Cudlip; the Kroll investigators who interviewed Chang and his manager. Both Jones and Pender-Cudlip, apparently former Metropolitan Police detectives, were reportedly questioning Santeng at the time of Chang’s fall, which is thought to have occurred less than an hour after the IT worker was initially quizzed. It is expected that the original document, containing allegations of corruption and bias in IT contracts, could resurface during the inquest to provide additional evidence. Chang’s interview with Kroll is also likely to be unearthed, during which it is claimed he refused to answer most of the probing questions. Lawyers for Abbey are meanwhile hoping that another piece of evidence will emerge, reported to be a note left by Chang during which he apparently confesses to circulating the document. Jul 18, 2005 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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