Police probe TransTec

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

Police have been called in to investigate allegations that collapsed engineering company TransTec, founded by ex-Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson, had fraudulently claimed government development grants.

The Department of Trade and Industry said it had referred to West Midlands Police claims made by the company's former chief accountant Max Ayriss, that Mr Robinson, MP for Coventry North West, had instructed him to 'maximise' grant applications.

Mr Ayriss was last week interviewed by DTI inspectors investigating the Christmas Eve collapse of TransTec owing millions of pounds.

In a statement, the DTI said: 'Following allegations that fraud had been committed against the DTI, officials have interviewed Mr Max Ayriss about the circumstances surrounding grants made to the TransTec group of companies.

'In the light of this interview, and following consultation with the West Midlands Police, the DTI has handed over to the West Midlands Police information relating to grant payments made by the department to subsidiaries of TransTec plc and the information revealed by the department's inquiries into these matters.

'On the advice of the West Midlands Police, they (the police) will now conduct any further interviews which may be necessary and decide what action they intend to take.'

The decision to refer the claims made by Mr Ayriss to the police is a further setback for the beleaguered Mr Robinson who has publicly insisted that he has done nothing wrong.

DTI officials said the police inquiry would consider only the claims made in relation to the allegedly fraudulent grant applications and would not affect the independent investigation into TransTec's collapse.

Mr Ayriss, who was the firm's chief accountant in the late 1980s, has claimed that Mr Robinson told him to 'maximise' claims for DTI regional grants, allegedly boosting the total received by a 'five figure sum'.

Mr Ayriss has also alleged that Mr Robinson applied for a grant to help buy a factory building, when he was planning to let it to another user rather than to use it himself.

Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers last month announced that he had appointed independent inspectors to investigate the collapse TransTec after it admitted concealing from shareholders an £11 million claim for payment by the Ford Motor Company.

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