News

Hunt for the 'Invisible Mendes'

The Certification Officer's report has revealed that MSF union officials lied to cover up the theft of tens of thousands of pounds from the union by ex Head of Finance Nelson Mendes. The CO puts this quite politely:

"several members of the union provided corroboration that was inconsistent with subsequent evidence".

Later in the report he says

"It is now clear that Mr Mendes' claims for rail expenses to attend meetings around the country were backed by false documents. Several of the meetings to which these claims related were confirmed to H W Fisher by union officials and/or members".

He concludes elaborately:

"there remains a problem in relation to those individuals who were reported by H W Fisher as confirming meetings with Mr Mendes that it now seems he did not attend."

Basically Mendes would claim expenses for meetings he never attended or that never happened. These officials/and or members then testified they were present and that the 'Invisible Mendes' had materialised in front of them. Perversion of the course of justice is a serious offence, as Jeffery Archer could tell you over champagne and shepherd's pie, or now bangers and mash. The CO does not name the officials who lied for Mendes, but rumours are rife that they include such senior officials as Lucy Anderson, in charge of witch hunts at MSF and Paul Talbot, Lyons' right hand foot.

The CO's section on failed businessman Gardner is difficult to follow, and rogerlyons.com has heard that it may be fundamentally flawed. The CO says that Gardner's company, Causeway Travel, "received a considerable amount of business from MSF". His version of the allegation is that Causeway submitted a £2,000 invoice for training to Whitehall College (MSF's training centre) and that they, having no knowledge of it, refused it. The name Causeway was subsequently removed and the invoice was then paid. The CO concludes:

"I am satisfied with the explanation given by the union that the work concerned was a training programme for one of the union's IT trainees. It was meant to be, but turned out not to be, of use to Causeway, and hence it was appropriate to require an invoice for payment by MSF rather than Causeway."

The allegations we have heard are that Causeway bought computer equipment for themselves and sent MSF the bill, MSF rejected it, then Gardner's company were told to re-submit it as 'training' to Whitehall College who were told to pay it. Allegedly the documentation was revealed in ex MSF officer Howell John's unfair dismissal case, but he was given £200,000 and the documents are now subject to a confidentiality clause (in direct contravention of Conference policy against secret deals).

These allegations are the most recent, but not the first about Gardner's troubled financial relationship with MSF, read this excellent article from Trade Union Review.

How much did Mendes get away with? Well we can estimate it from figures in the Certification Officer's report. He says:

"In total Mr Mendes claimed £12,089 (in 1997). The claim forms made available to (the auditors) totalled £4,743, of these they concluded £3,797 were improper."

From the auditors' sample, the proportion of improper claims is therefore a staggering 80%. 80% of £12,089 comes to an estimated theft by Mendes of £9,678 of members' money for 1997 alone. Since this article was first posted we have heard rumours that over £100,000 left the union improperly in 1997 and that Mendes just got the crumbs.

Posted www.rogerlyons.com on 17th August 2001