Bit From Private Eye on the death of Richard Chang.

On page 28 of the latest issue of Private Eye in the "IN THE CITY" section is a report on the case of Richard Chang. He worked for Abbey National and was called in for an interview with some investigators. An outside company called Kroll Associates

The investigators questioned him, and when he requested a break he then committed sucide by jumping from the building. Anyway read this:

the link: www.www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=US1815414M&news_headline=abbey_worker_dies_after_being_quizzed_by_private_eye/

LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) - An Abbey employee plunged to his death from a fifth floor balcony minutes after being grilled by private detectives hired by his bosses investigating allegations of a sex and finance scandal at the bank, an inquest heard today (Mon).

IT analyst Richard Chang, 47, was the prime suspect as the author of two "malicious" documents sent anonymously to the bank's top brass, it was said.

The documents falsely alleged a financial and sex scandal at the bank and Abbey's chiefs feared the clearly disgruntled Chang could use their inside knowledge of IT trading systems to wreak havoc with its multi-million pound business, St Pancras Coroner's Court heard.

In an elaborate undercover probe more akin to the plot of a TV drama, investigators from top international detective agency Kroll had whittled a 600-strong list of suspects down to Chang by secretly taking fingerprints of staff from glass water bottles in Abbey's meeting rooms.

The private eyes also hacked into employees' computers and had a linguistics expert study the documents, which alleged corruption in the granting of IT contracts and cast doubt on the sexuality of bank chiefs.

The inquest jury heard how Chang attended what he believed was a routine meeting with his manager on July 13 last year, but instead fund himself being quizzed by two Kroll sleuths.

He denied being the author, but one of the investigators, former Scotland Yard detective, Howard Jones, told the inquest today that he believed Chang was on the verge of confessing all at the end of the two and a half hour interrogation.

The inquest heard that Chang should have been collected by members of the bank's human resources team at the end of the meeting to keep him apart from any possible accomplices.

Instead, the father-of-two disappeared and fell to his death half an hour later from the fifth floor balcony at the bank's HQ in Triton Square, Euston, central London.

Giving evidence today, Abbey's in house lawyer Robin Parkinson described the two documents, sent in late May and early June last year, as "mischief making and malicious" and said of the first eight-page dossier: "It contained on the face of it a concern about the relationship between Abbey and one of its contractors about the way in which computer contracts were being given out.

"It was laced with several factual inaccuracies. The document then degenerated into what I would describe as mischief making and maliciousness, making various childish remarks about the sexuality or otherwise about some of our senior managers."

Mr Parkinson said it was feared the author might seek to wreck the bank's IT trading systems, which could cost it millions of pounds.

he said: "It seems very clear from the fact of the document that we had disaffected staff who had knowledge of the IT systems and who were threatening the bank that unless they got what they wanted they were going to take matters further into their own hands.

"We did not want to find ourselves held hostage or fall victim to serious disruption to our systems."

Mr Parkinson said that Kroll's team narrowed a list of suspects from all 600 staff in Abbey's wholesale banking unit to 40 names.

Then a partial match was found between a fingerprint on an envelope holding one of the documents and Chang's fingerprints from a glass bottle.

Mr Jones, who had 30-year police career and is now a private security consultant after leaving Kroll, said he considered Chang the prime suspect ahead of the interview on July 13. Chang had already handed in his notice to join another bank.

Mr Jones said he secretly taped the interview and said Chang "did not react in any way" when the true nature of the meeting dawned on him.

Mr Jones said: "I would say he was calm. I would say he was reflective. He was not tearful or emotional and not apparently scared.

"I did put it to him that he was the author, or one of the authors, and he denied it."

But Mr Jones said Chang's dodging of questions made him even more convinced he was the culprit. And he said that when he and Peter Pender-Cudlip, Kroll's then deputy head of business intelligence and investigations, wound up the session up at 1.10pm he thought that Chang was on the brink of confessing.

He said: "I did think there were matters that when Richard went away and reflected on, he would probably come back and tell the truth."

He said he was an hour into an interview with a second suspect at around 3pm when he learned of Chang's death.

Chang's widow, Lay Peng Lim, 43, said her husband had been his "normal cheerful self" before he left their Hackney home for work that morning. They were looking forward to a trip to New York the following week, she added.

Referring to her husband in the present tense, she said: "Richard is a very hard-working person, a devoted husband and father. He is very hands-on with the children."

She told the inquest: "I was told of Richard's death by the police some time between 4.30pm and 6pm. My immediate feeling was of disbelief."

Chang's widow and parents have each hired separate solicitors to represent them at the inquest, which continues.


Also
Link: www.finextra.com/fullfeature.asp?id=552/

The mysterious death of IT analyst Richard Chang - who fell from the top-floor of Abbey National's London HQ during an investigation by Kroll Associates into unfounded allegations of corruption in the handling of software contracts in the bank's treasury division - may yet come back to haunt the UK banking group.

According to a report in UK satirical magazine Private Eye, Scotland Yard has begun a major incident investigation into the death of Chang, who was one of a number of Abbey employees interviewed by Kroll over the contents of an anonymous letter sent to Abbey chief executive Luqman Arnold earlier this year.

The letter, several pages long, was apparently compiled by Abbey staffers unhappy with the progress of a major overhaul of the bank's treasury department by respected City IT consultancy Buttonwood Tree Group. The document confected a series of coincidences, untruths and unfounded gossip about purported relationships between Buttonwood Tree, IT supplier Wall Street Systems, and senior IT staff working on the project, and spun them into a major conspiracy theory alleging serious improprietaries in the management of the project.

After an internal investigation found the dossier to be without foundation, Luqman called in corporate investigators Kroll Associates to root out the authors. Chang was one of the first to be called for interview by Kroll. He is understood to have fallen to his death from the fifth-floor balcony of Abbey's London headquarters after requesting a break in the interrogation.

While suicide seems the most likely explanation, Chang's widow - who according to Private Eye works for the Financial Services Authority - has been pressing for a full inquiry into the exact circumstances surrounding her husband's death.

News of an expanded investigation by Scotland Yard couldn't come at a worse time for Abbey National as the bank prepares for its forthcoming nuptials with Spanish suitor Banco Santander. Staff morale - particularly in the treasury and IT department - will be one of the first tasks Abbey's new owners will need to address.

Also:
Link: www.management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39150593,00.htm/

The widow of an Abbey IT worker who killed himself after being interrogated over the leaking of a sensitive dossier has blamed bosses at the bank for causing his death.

Richard Chang, 47, had been a suspect in an internal investigation to find the author of documents sent to financial regulators and senior Abbey executives that alleged financial corruption and sexual impropriety in the granting of lucrative IT contracts.

The Abbey investigation found no evidence to support the allegations and hired private investigation agency Kroll to find the documents' author because it feared the employee was a potential threat to the security of the bank's IT systems and wholesale banking business.

After using forensic linguistic techniques and secret fingerprint matching, Kroll identified Chang as a suspect and picked him for face-to-face interrogation. Chang was serving his notice at the time and was lured into a meeting on the morning of 13 July 2004 on the pretence of discussing a replacement for his role with his project manager.

When he turned up he was met by ex-Scotland Yard detective and Kroll investigator Howard Jones as well as Abbey's HR manager. During two and a half hours of questioning, Chang denied the allegations, but less than an hour after leaving the meeting unescorted he jumped to his death from a fifth floor balcony at Abbey's Triton Square headquarters in London.

An Abbey employee who saw the incident said Chang looked "robotic and catatonic" as he threw himself over the balcony with his arms by his side and made no attempt to break the fall. Chang died of multiple injuries. A memo from Chang to Jones was found in a small pile of possessions he had placed on the floor before jumping. The contents of the note have not been disclosed.

A jury at the inquest at St Pancras Coroner's Court in London today took less than an hour to return a verdict of suicide in what the coroner called a "tragic case".

Chang's widow Lay Pen Lim said in a statement released after the verdict that her husband had been deceived into attending the meeting and then subjected to "consistently hectoring and misleading" questioning by Jones.

"I believe that, had this meeting not taken place, Richard would still be with us today. Richard had everything to live for. The children and I are absolutely devastated. We will never get over our loss," she said.

The coroner said he will send a report to employee arbitration service ACAS to help provide guidance for employers dealing with similar investigations in future, although he said this implied no blame on Abbey's conduct.

"When an interview has been conducted the employee should not be unescorted. There is a risk of the employee being rendered vulnerable by the interview. There is an issue about preventing similar fatalities. This case is obviously tragic and employers are going to be faced with these situations in future," the coroner said.

And lastly:
Link: http:www.contractoruk.com/news/002199.html/

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.

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