Former Edinburgh postmaster wrongly accused of stealing thousands of pounds

A former sub-postmaster wrongly accused of stealing thousands of pounds has had his refund demands snubbed for more than a year.

The Daily Record reports that Kashif Nadeem, 33, said the Post Office has refused to hand back £28,000 – despite its officials giving him just 14 days to hand over the cash or face jail in 2008.

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Kashif was just 19 and running a shop in Edinburgh with his dad when he was wrongly identified as stealing cash by a dodgy IT system.

He’s one of an estimated 1000-plus former sub-postmasters and postmistresses seeking compensation from the London-based mail carrier.

We can reveal the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) is reviewing eight criminal convictions linked to the computer failings.

Dad-of-two Kashif, who now runs a business in the Borders, said: “It’s ridiculous.

“When I was pulled in by Post Office officials and told I had stolen money from them, I was told in no uncertain terms, ‘Pay us back within 14 days or go to jail’.

“I had no choice but to hand over a cheque for £28,000 – despite knowing I had done nothing wrong. I started asking for the money back two years ago and my application for compensation went in over a year ago. But I’ve not heard back in months.

At first it was, ‘We’ll look into it’, then it was, ‘There’s Covid, we are working through all the claims’.

“I was told there are over a 1000 in the same position. It’s infuriating.

“They say sorry is the hardest word to say. But it’s not for the Post Office – they’ve already said that.

“Their problem is saying, ‘There’s the money back we stole from you’.”

In 2020, the Post Office apologised for “historical failings” related to its IT system, which wrongly fingered its operators for fraud.

Last April, courts in England cleared 39 former sub-postmasters and postmistresses convicted due to “corrupt data” in the
computer system.

The quashed theft, fraud and false accounting convictions were described as one of the UK’s biggest ever miscarriages of justice.

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The Criminal Cases Review Commission in England had opened up a probe in 2015.

Between 2000 and 2014, the Post Office prosecuted 736 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses across the UK based on information from its Horizon IT system. Some of those have since died.

In 2019, a court ruled early versions of the troubled Horizon IT system was full of “bugs, errors and defects”.

Earlier this year, the SCCRC said it had opened five probes in Scotland. But last week a spokesman said: “The total is now eight.”

Kashif said after the system wrongly linked him to missing cash, he was snubbed by his ex-colleagues and friends, which had a “devastating effect” on his dad Mohammed.

He said: “We just couldn’t understand it. We didn’t know who to trust. My dad struggled to come to terms with it all.”

The overturning of convictions saw calls for a public inquiry, with a preliminary hearing beginning last week.

The Post Office said: “Following the provision of Government funding support earlier this year, the Post Office has been making compensation payments through the Historical Shortfall Scheme.

“Decisions and payments continue, following assessment of eligible claims by the Scheme’s independent advisory panel.”