In full: Post Office chief who ‘made postmaster’s widow sign NDA’ gives evidence

A former Post Office boss accused of making a sub-postmaster’s widow sign a non-disclosure agreement after he killed himself over a £100,000 discrepancy in his Horizon accounts will give evidence to the inquiry today.
Angela van den Bogerd, who was at the organisation from 1985 until 2018, is alleged to have travelled to the home of Gina Griffiths after her husband Martin died aged 59 in September 2013.
Mr Griffiths’ sister, Jayne Caveen, told The Times Ms van den Bogerd pressured Mrs Griffiths into signing a settlement deal and non-disclosure agreement that prevented the story from emerging until 2022.
Mr Griffiths’ suicide and its aftermath was depicted in ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
Ms van den Bogerd has denied the allegations, saying: “I remain deeply saddened by the tragic death of Martin Griffiths and my involvement from my recollection is not as portrayed in The Times article of Jan 9, 2024, or indeed the ITV drama.”
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[@billkeil716]

A woman who was promoted multiple times, to the point where she was senior enough to brief a parliamentary committee on the PO’s behalf, and yet, it would seem that, she didn’t have any responsibility for anything, in any of her roles.

[@diannepenny407]

None of them do. It's quite a phenomenon.

[@Mattsavage69]

Shut up, she is stunning and brave and must be believed.

[@juju1957k]

She reminded me on Manuel in faulty tower.... I know nothing.... 😂

[@robertthompson6346]

It makes one wonder if they actually did any work at all....just meetings about meetings

[@jonathanfoster2568]

I don’t recall, I don’t remember, it doesn’t come to mind. All these people have terrible memory problems 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@jonathanfoster2568]

Cold as ice. No empathy from her at all.

[@user-gv1ep1tv5m]

There needs to be a criminal trial at the end of this enquiry, people have to go to jail for a very long time.

[@user-qc4mi1dw7n]

Completely agree !!! - those responsible need to be held accountable for their decisions.

[@user-nm9hw6sw4m]

disagree .. they should be striped of all assest and all money’s earned from the POL and bonuses returned they should be broken then and only then should they go on trial . they should be given the same treatment they dished out .. every single penny of tax payers money returned no if's or buts .

[@rogermoore5761]

Another box ticker in a job not qualified to do. Out of her depth.

[@robertthompson6346]

And a BIG salary

[@jorybennett5932]

A brilliantly sustained forensic examination of the witness. Can't wait for Ms Vennells' appearance at the inquiry. They're saving the best to last.

[@notquiteoverthehill9576]

She remembers only when she can point responsibility at someone else.

[@arlenreinstein9907]

An evil machine requires a plenitude of banal efficient soulless cogs

[@jonathanfoster2568]

The banality of evil. Yes exactly.

[@Pinkyandthebrain290]

They must all be sociopathic and or psychopaths.

[@colinwaynefewtrell3697]

Minimum 15 years in Prison + bankruptcy 😂😂😂

[@glenhammond1537]

She isn’t believable

[@donaldpaterson5827]

A comment from somebody the other day. If this is the Post Office what must the management in the NHS be like??

[@jasonstafford3754]

We'll never know because everyone loves the NHS right?

[@johnwright9372]

Look at the claims for medical negligence. It would be interesting to know if the numbers have exploded since the deliberate underfunding since 2010. Then find out if Hunt, his successors and cabinet colleagues knew.

[@simonlinton8123]

Mark my words, nobody will face punishment over the Post Office scandal. Just like Hillsborough, Stephen Lawrence, Bloody Sunday. NO ONE WILL BE PROSECUTED. Why go through the pretence.

[@Anhorish]

The Guildford 4, the Maguires, the Birmingham 6, Blair Peach, etc etc etc. The billions in PPE fraud is less important than a few quid potentially owed by Carers or people on benefits.

[@mickd6942]

And the NHS contaminated blood scandal

[@RichardCranmore]

I don't remember receiving that email but I do recall that I didn't read it.

[@fireskycam9889]

How convenient.

[@HelenBlack-sn7ke]

Just started and she is correcting 8 lies. Word salad, why can't they answer the question directly. She resigned, was not made redundant. She was not entitled to a redundancy pay out.

[@julietrees6534]

Exactly right! Not a genuine 'Redundancy situation' atall! Either she wanted out OR they wanted her out. Either way they had to shut her up with a BIG Settlement £££££payment & NDA. The corruption, lies, laziness, overpromotion & incompetence on blatant dispay from these people is sickening - and from yet another 'Taxpayer funded' Govt Org👎👎👎

[@seanmoyses]

Caught out. Prison beckons

[@colincar6823]

people have died because of this woman, families wrecked, nothing but a long jail sentence

[@kenmilne1816]

Sir Walter Scott 1808 “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”

[@tubawolvescraigwilliams2411]

What a cold callous vile individual. Very intelligent but just horrible, ‘it didn’t register with me’ is her fall back position when found to be complicit in this terrible saga. She is clearly lying. How can she live with herself when protecting a ‘brand’ yet ruining people lives in doing so. We are not stupid, despite her continual slimy evasion of actually admitting her major part in this scandal Jason Beer has laid bare the part she played. This is one despicable human being.

[@brianquinn6014]

Liar liar pants on fire. I know nothing !

[@antonychat]

This woman is distancing herself from absolutely every part of this investigation it's laughable...can't recall this, can't remember that...I wasn't involved in this, I wasn't involved in that.....did she actually work at the post office...

[@paulread8887]

It's all very convenient to say I can't remember guv....and I'm only sorry because we have been caught out. Real shame it took her so long to make such an unbelievable statement.

[@williamthomson7820]

These people thought that they were above the law and untouchable, alas that has turned out not to be true and all the spin she is putting on is an act of a desperate woman, one that helped put innocent people behind bars and she knew it!

[@BenDorm]

Angela van den Bogerd knew that Horizon could access the Sub Postmasters computers remotely since December 2010. There is an e mail to prove that.

[@loyndsy]

Her memory isn't very good

[@terrymoney9718]

Like the rest ? ' I can't recall?'

[@peterbennett5910]

The only laws these Post Office executives have not broken is traffic offences. What are the Police playing at!!!!!!!

[@chrispomphrett4283]

They are far too busy with other nonsense laws to bother with this. It would mean rolling their sleeves up and having to do some hard work...

[@brightspark4817]

the word anomaly was used when the space shuttle blew up it plays down the accident

[@simonlinton8123]

Why o these inquiries take so long? Because lawers charge by the hour!

[@ericrice8755]

Finally its all down to the Government at the day. I just say recover as much bonus and pay-outs we can then file them all in jail. The WW1 expression "brave solders led by donkeys" come to mind

[@fireskycam9889]

She believes that because information had been forwarded to her and not sent directly to her first hand then she can ignore it. How incompetent.

[@mcgregorpat1]

WHY do people begin an explanation with... So..

[@williamthomson7820]

They must have all been schooled by the same brief, "I don't recall"

[@jamesb9448]

The same story as our rivers are telling us, faeces floats to the top. This is very reminiscent of my time in the NHS. The further up I climbed the more I saw managers who don’t reply to emails raising risks and concerns and ask to discuss it “offline”, or did their utmost to cover things up. Eventually I left the NHS, but I’m confident that one day I’ll see ex-colleagues in a similar such inquiry, and I look forward to seeing the thousands of emails belittling me when I tried to teach my managers about showing due diligence for patient wellbeing. For everyone else out there fighting for justice, keep it up.

[@thesmallerhalf1968]

This sounds very like a person who has been promoted beyond their level of incompetence, and having climbed the slippery pole has expended a great deal of energy clutching onto such unexpected heights.

[@michaelmouse4024]

In alternative circs, (eg a job application or on Desert Island Discs) this woman would refer to experience, status & ability as evidence of great achievement. Here she almost denies ever being involved in the Post Office as a senior manager. She employs the Nuremberg Defence & the James Murdoch 'I knew nothing despite being in charge" excuse. Pitiful.

[@carolynellis387]

Time charges were brought against them all in positions of power. Jail time is a must

[@YeahThatsTough]

Karens all the way down. Another van der LYING

[@Brucelectricmoose]

Ah, Rodrick explains everything

[@davidslater2415]

I know nothing! --- SOUNDS LIKE A 'FAULTY TOWERS SCRIPT" ------ SHE MADE A WIDOW SIGN A NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT! NDA --

[@jasonstafford3754]

Her career history smacks of an employee who would cost too much to get rid of and was continually moved around 🤔

[@Brucelectricmoose]

Ah Rodrick explains everything

[@annied9864]

So! She’s made redundant from one post and started a new post. Something stinks there

[@jasonstafford3754]

Disingenuous much?

[@frankkeachie]

How can she give evidence when she can't remember anything

[@YeahThatsTough]

The implications for elections !

[@markdunn2299]

i cant figure out if she is playing dumb or actually knew nothing

[@diane4488]

Definitely lying.

[@HelenBlack-sn7ke]

At the very least she is totally incompetent.

[@thomasmorin749]

Corporate amnesia.

[@VivianWilliams-iv1ls]

She should be in jail at very least with key thrown away.

[@dragonfly6908]

It seems she was the perfect candidate for the job she had at the Post Office as she can't recall anything and didn't know what was going on.

[@donaldpaterson5827]

If I had been asked for advice in the early stages. I would have advised that they compare prosecutions and such like the last few years before Horizon and the number of prosecutions in the first few years after Horizon. A marked jump would be reason for caution especially when accompanied by complaints.

[@fireskycam9889]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3400">56:40</a> It all starts to fall apart from here.

[@fireskycam9889]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="3460">57:40</a> And her dishonesty is revealed.

[@lightning78jarmi]

Cos of her accent when she says ‘Lawyers were heavily involved’ it sounds like ‘Liars were heavily involved’ …. Yep, she got that right….

[@donaldpaterson5827]

I agree a good few of the seniors need wakening up. Three months in the clink with a reduction in pension would make others in other enterprises THINK. THERE NEEDS TO BE CONSEQUENCES.

[@Ray-ed5ew]

Not guilty my lord

[@spencerhulme1203]

Bug means to me investigation along with a cost analysis! Are they all pleading incompetence!

[@andrewsmith1452]

I'm innocent guv i knew nothing, I just pushed harder to roll out the compensation for these poor people

[@TerranceHolmes-mu7iu]

speck up don't listen to them let us all know

[@YeahThatsTough]

DEI hire

[@davidallan5671]

There has been a whole bunch of white guys who preceded her in the inquiries, who knew nothing, couldn’t remember or wish they’d made different decisions with hindsight. Stop gaslighting.

[@mcgregorpat1]

So

[@rickikilvi5406]

Psychopath or Sociopath or Negligent or Incompetent ?.

[@or9835]

She had a lot on her shoulders: Manipulating the sub-postmasters alliance, manipulating the MPs, keeping the media under control, keeping payouts to victims - if any - to a minimum, making sure widows of her victims would stay quiet and sign NDAs, ensuring continued prosecutions of innocent 'little people' would intimidate the others... I'd say a very competent person to handle all this.

[@sandrarynhart7362]

why is she sniffing.

[@donaldpaterson5827]

One company I worked for preferred “An instantaneous gas expansion” rather than explosion!

[@michaelbruce5415]

Cheap words of apology. Pay Up!

[@MadMoler]

I guess skin care wasn't on top of her lists of things

[@julierogers1155]

When a person doesn't have anything of substance to say, then this is the kind of comment one posts ...

[@MadMoler]

@@julierogers1155 pretty much

[@fireskycam9889]

That's because her new job has her dunking her face in the dough to make gorilla biscuits.

[@irelandmsk8901]

She did what she was insructed to do...yes.. I was only following orders..isnt an excuse.. shes morally bankrupt...but she didnt make policy...Get to the decison makers... the rest are just examples of incompetent, sick individuals...

[@or9835]

She and other key executive managers and lawyers obviously felt they had backing all the way up to the government that made a deal with Fujitsi, or they would not have created this conspiracy and engaged in these criminal acts so blatantly. I agree the policy makers should be accountable. But the criminal energy and disregard of any decency displayed by van den Bogerd, Vennels, Perkins, Singh and others at their executive management level requires taking them to account for their action. Lying in court and in hearings and being rewarded by keeping their performance bonuses cannot go unpunished. They could have left their jobs and got another well-paid executive position. Instead, they decided to do those criminal acts willingly and with enthusiasm, trying to find the most efficient ways of obfuscation and perversion of justice.

[@irelandmsk8901]

Yes they undertook their Jobs with zeal & a total dedication & were rewarded for it.. It’s what people are indoctrinated to do..by corporate culture.. justice could make examples of them.. But the real crime is the decision makers with the power to stop it..and didn’t.. These should pay the harshest penalty whatever age they are.. they must serve time.. but they won’t.

[@YeahThatsTough]

Actually I feel she was kept ignorant at the time

[@eloisecromwell4201]

Despite being privy to several emails she conveniently overlooked

[@YeahThatsTough]

@@eloisecromwell4201often managers are inundated with e mails

[@lindabirkett8803]

She was fully informed and played a large role in the POL response and cover up.

[@katiedowding-lees9416]

This is the women who was pressuring a widow of the sub postmaster that took his own life because of this, to sign a NDA! Absolutely horrifying behaviour

[@BenDorm]

She was a major part of the ongoing cover up.

[@Billsbyjoe]

This individual was and is a true long serving incompetent. It is telling that the PO (Royal Mail) was just as incompetent in its decisions to escalate her position, she has perjured herself so badly that her criminal charges are inevitable, she might not go to jail, but a civil case against her will automatically follow the criminal conviction. GOOD!

[@kcribin5654]

blonde suits this woman/thing