Former Southern Water Boss Charged With Conspiracy to Defraud

Former Southern Water CEO Matthew Wright has been charged with conspiracy to defraud, as have three other former employees.

Wright and his co-defendants are alleged to have conspired to defraud the Environment Agency (EA) and Ofwat by cheating water quality tests between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2017.

They are alleged to have manipulated a compliance testing regime known as Operator Self-Monitoring (OSM), which requires water companies to take samples at wastewater treatment centres and report the results to the EA.  

The four are accused of conspiring to “defraud persons performing public duties in respect of environmental and financial regulation” using “the implementation of artificial no-flow events at waste water treatment works”.

At the time, OSM rules said samples did not have to be provided if the discharge flow was insufficient to take one. 

The EA last year requested a summons against Wright, along with Philip Barker, Clive Massey and Mark Gregory, but Wright tried to block the move at the High Court, where his lawyers argued the EA did not have the power to issue a summons.  

That argument was dismissed on Wednesday, bringing an end to reporting restrictions on the case. 

“We welcome this important judgment,” an EA spokesperson said, adding: “We take our responsibility to protect the environment very seriously and will always pursue and prosecute those alleged to have committed serious offending against the environment.” 

Conspiracy to defraud carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment. Wright’s lawyer said his client denies all wrongdoing and is cooperating fully with the EA’s investigation. 

Privately-owned Southern Water has been accused of dozens of environmental offences between 2013 and 2017. A spokesperson for the firm said it is “a completely different company now than it was a decade ago”. 

They added: “The charges relate to a historic set of failures… uncovered through an internal company investigation in 2017. As soon as they were identified, Southern Water reported them to regulators, including the Environment Agency.”

The company’s new leadership has “radically addressed our culture, governance and operations,” they said.