The owner of one of the three stooge companies that helped Peverel’s subsidiary Cirrus wrongly win lucrative contracts at retirement sites deeply regrets his involvement in the scam.
Jeremy Owen, 38, of Owens Installations, says he got caught up in the Cirrus scandal because he was young and naïve and wishes he could “turn the clock back”.
Peverel has offered £100,000 to the contingency funds of the sites affected and terms the sum a “goodwill” payment.
But Owen was the only one involved in the entire scandal who paid his formal censure: a £1,777 fine.
Peverel and Cirrus got away with orchestrating the scam scot-free after the Office of Fair Trading offered them a “leniency” deal for their co-operation with its inquiry.
MPs Sir Peter Bottomley and Ed Davey have described this decision as “outrageous”.
The other two stooges, Glyn Jackson Communication (fined £35,700) and Peter O’Rourke Electrical (fined £15,933), avoided any financial penalty by going into administration in 2012.
Owen chose not to do so and paid up.
Speaking to LKP, Owen said:
“We learn by our mistakes. I do not want to have anything to do with Peverel or with Cirrus or any of the other companies that were involved.
“I worked for Peverel for 14 years. But it is a chapter of my life that I would like to close.
“It was a good company, but then greed took over and it became corrupt.
“If you could turn the clock back I would hope not to have been so naïve. I just wish I had not got involved. I am very sorry to have done so.”
Owen was astonished to learn from LKP that Glyn Jackson was back working at a Peverel site, the Adelphi in Harrogate. Reported here
“I was told that Glyn Jackson would not ever work on Peverel schemes again, so I am surprised that he is being re-employed.
“I obviously paid my fine and I am the only person who did so. I did not simply fold the company as the others did.
“I cannot believe that the OFT investigators let those responsible for this walk away scot-free.”
Owen declines to discuss the matter in detail, but says:
“I did not make much money out of the scam.
“No payments were made to me for tendering for the sites. It was not quite as dark and seedy as that. You were paid back by contracts to install systems at other sites.
“But I never installed equipment at sites where I had nominally bid for the work.”
Mr Owen is adamant that the scam went to the heart of Cirrus.
“I cannot imagine anyone in the management structure not being perfectly well aware of what was going on.
“I have no loyalty to Peverel or to Cirrus. I think what we were doing was completely corrupt.
“I felt it was right that I pay my dues.”
Sir Peter Bottomley has said that the pensioner victims of the scam, that ran between 2005 and 2009, were “the direct victims of unlawful and probably criminal actions”.
Related posts:
Guardian examines the Peverel / Cirrus price-fixing scandal tomorrow
OFT price-fixing cheat Glyn Jackson is back at Peverel sites
Davey and Bottomley quiz OFT over its leniency deal with Peverel over the Cirrus price-fixing scam
The Oldie reports Peverel / Cirrus price-fixing scandal
Fury as OFT may give Peverel immunity over Cirrus price-fixing scandal
Housing associations lose £750,000 in SmartSource Water scandal
Even a cynic like me believes that Jeremy Owen is sincere in his regret for his actions. His statement is very welcome.. It would be helpful if he could pass a list of all the developments that he worked on to LKP.
Michael, well stated.
Charles Says:
We have to thank LKP/About Peverel for the platforms and the Campaign led by LKP into the corrupt behaviour of Peverel/Cirrus?
LKP Says:-
Peverel Cirrus price-fixing stooge says sorry.
The owner of one of the three stooge companies that helped Peverel’s subsidiary Cirrus wrongly win lucrative contracts at retirement sites deeply regrets his involvement in the scam.
Jeremy Owen, 38, of Owens Installations, says he got caught up in the Cirrus Scandal because he was young and naïve and wishes he could “turn the clock back”.
“What we were doing was completely corrupt,” says Owen, who was the smallest fish in a scam that saw 65 sites cheated in tenders worth £1.4 million.
Charles Says:
We only need two further apologies now from Glyn Jackson and O`Rourke and an explanation of how the Price Fixing started, when it started, the areas that were not mentioned in the OFT investigations, and who was involved?
Either Glyn Jackson and O`Rourke can contact me on these sites?.
“You were paid back by contracts to install systems at other sites”
😀 Exactly how I explained(sometime ago) it would have been worked out; Nihil novi.
AM,
We were tricked into updating our Warden Call System (WCS) in 2007/08.
We had previously been informed in 2006/07 that the WCS was obsolete and Cirrus Communication were asked to price in February 2007 for Two Separate Options?
The Two Options were:-
1. Replace with similar £15,500
2. Update with new digital system an extra (£5,600) total circa £21,000
In the mean time during on 24/06/2007 we were informed that a storm took out all the EMERGENCY WARDEN CALL SYSTEM to all 28 flats, including the House Managers Flat.
Cirrus Communication and Glyn Jackson (GJ) Tendered for the replacement.
Cirrus Communications tender was £5,000 less than GJ and was offered the contract.
Cirrus Communication then SUB-CONTRACTED the WCS Up-Date to Glyn Jackson, who undertook the EMERGENCY RWPLACEMENT some 9 months after, the system had failed, completing ON THE 01/04/2008.
No consultation occurred regarding the update and it took me 4 years of asking our Area/Regional Manager, many questions regarding the Price Fixing and failing to correctly consult.
Finally Chris Owens, Peverel Customer Relations Manager, admitted, that of course Glyn Jackson was used to undertake the works at Ashbrook Court, as they were already a Sub-Contractor used by Peverel Management Services Ltd and Cirrus Communication?
So AM, from this you can see how
” you were paid back by contracts to install systems at other sites”
This was how they were able to Price Fix for 5 years making £1.4 million by cheating the elderly and infirmed pensioners?
At the same time providing continued work, for those who had cheated, whilst running a Collusive Price Fixing Cartel?
Chas,
Can you clarify a point for me?
You say that you were told that your Warden Call System was obselete.
That being the case it would have needed to be replaced. However, before it could be replaced a storm intervened which knocked out the “obselete” Warden Call System.
Am I right in thinking that Peverel made an insurance claim for the full cost of the renewed Warden Call System? If so, would that not mean that they would have had to declare the Warden Call System was in good condition? Insurance is meant to put a claimant back into the position they had been before any loss is it not? For example, if you wrote off a 10 year old Mondeo, an insurance company would be liable to replace a 10 year old Mondeo. They would not give you a 2 year old Jaguar.
I can see only two possibilities here: Either, you were lied to by Peverel about the condition of your Warden Call System (Pecuniary Advantage By Deception) or they lied to the insurance company?
Any thoughts on the subject, Chas?