Manor Residents Raided

[steveL]

hearing that Manor Residents was raided by Police this morning

[norfolkngoode]

Too late?

[DRiddle]

Tom Mitchell's report should prove interesting anyway. It would obviously be difficult for the report to say "There's no problem, there's nothing to see here, everything's in order..." as the police try to sellotape a load of shredded documents together, or get their best IT guy to have a good look through MRA's computers.

I don't see how bank accounts can be 'buried' though. Not in this day and age. The electronic paper trail will lead somewhere.

My fear is, in terms of 'political careers', the person most likely to take the fall is the person who is already finished politically anyway.

It might end up being like this situation...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGoPbv764yo

I just hope that if there is a fall guy/girl in all of this, that person is vindictive enough to take everybody down with them.

[mk1]

I don't think Angie is going to outwit anyone. If you remember that she doctored a post book by writing an entry in the 2012 section because there was no space in the correct 2013 section then you get a measure of the women.
I am sure her puppet master has  removed all his grubby paw marks and left her to take the fall. The last time he tried this scam she folded and gave him up and even asked for police protection in case he came after her. By the time it got to court she decided to back out and keep her mouth shut.
This time she is in the cross hairs and hoping  he returns the favour.
I can not wait until it all falls in the SCABs lap!


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Space  left for Arc to insert excuses......... wait until the trial.......innocent until proven guilty..........she is labour so I must  help  her.....etc.

[grim reaper]

I liked that 'gap' for ARC to fill in...very good. No doubt he will use it too. 

He calls people on here for being too quick to find people 'guilty'. Conversely, HE finds it difficult to countenance any thought of wrong-doing by anyone connected to Labour...just because they're Labour.

Apart from the clowns running the show now and making the town a laughing stock, he needs to think about the MP that told us lies regarding the hospital;

Cllrs that refused to send a letter of complaint to the 'trust';

Labour MPs and councillors that have run this town into the ground for 50 years, whilst themselves moving up the housing ladder from council house to private housing.

A MP that paid 'cash in hand' for 'gardening services' and reduced the price of his house but charged extra for other household aspects...all to ensure he kept below the threshold of housing tax.

Riddler5 says those representing us are content to play second fiddle to neighbouring authorities, which is why we never move forward as a town.
The reason we don't move forward is because the incumbents have (and always have) been focused on what THEY could get out of the system and NOT what they could do FOR the system. 

But he's right, we are governed by pygmies.
They are non-entities, absorbed in their own vainglorious schemes of ineptitude.
I only hope that when the MRA scandal goes to court and the whole corrupt edifice crumbles, that the right-minded people of this town FINALLY wake up and go out and vote for change and a brighter future for the people of Hartlepool.
Will it be UKIP or high Tax Hartlepool? Who knows.
But on past performance it can't be Labour or our excuse for a Tory party!

[enough said]

rumor has it that on the way down to the police station with what there took from MRA has been miss laid and has left a few red faces although theres a few Councillors sitting very high in there chairs higher than there normaly would be with smirks on there faceses
Stephen Akers-Belcher falling about in his office with laughter seems to me that old saying its not what you no its who you no its that old Scenario the red tape gets longer by the day but when the hell is it going to snap the only fall guy in all this is her second in command carrol jeffies shes going to take it all she has been in charge of all money matters wilcox made it like that. so she would take all the blame. when the s**t hits the fan  i would love to be a fly on the wall when she,s in the cell. as for the  trustees that wilcox voted in her self by the way is very clever most of them are on her side but some of them are not and its them that need to get a grip of whats going on and the only thing thats bothering them is who would fill wilcoxes boots after her. the last thing that any one wants is it to closes down as it does a lot for the manor ress. and would be a loss to a lot of people who need it.   

[brassed off monkey]

I`m afaid the only sensible option is to allow Manor Residents to go to the wall, it is no longer a viable enterprise & it would be extremely foolish for HBC to continue funding it in it`s present form.

The Charity Commision have serious concerns with MRA as have HMRC, not forgetting that 4 Ex-Employees are owed over £20,000 in compensation as well as other possible creditors who may require some form of redress against MRA.

HBC bailed out The Phoenix Centre a number of years ago, but in the present economic climate should the hard pressed Council Tax Payers be expected to do the same with Manor Residents ? I certainly don`t think that would be a popular option for HBC to take.

In the short term it may create some problems, but in the longer term a new & better managed organisation may take MRA`s place, but it will need to be monitored & audited far more rigorously than MRA has been.

On the plus side of things, this Scandal may help in the realisation that the involvement of sitting councillors receiving any financial benefits whatsoever from Grant Funded organisations should not be allowed, & the involvement of half a dozen or so Labour Councillors with Manor Residents is something that needs to be reviewed.

[Lucy Lass-Tick]

Getting back to the subject ...

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/local/manor-residents-hq-raided-by-detectives-who-removed-computers-and-files-1-6067289

The Mail is only 24 hours behind HTH this time - keep trying chaps! 

[DRiddle]

Also Lucy, the comments are gone again. This one below that i posted lasted all of 10 seconds before the whole lot were pulled...

The shocking thing is, this raid took until 19th September 2013 to actually happen.

Other journalists ("fat failed wannabe ones" apparently, according to some councillors) have been battling to flag up this story for around a year and a half.

Various members of the public who go to council meetings have asked endless questions, raising concerns about Manor Residents Association and/or the 'Who Cares North East' company.

As far back as February this year, 7 months ago, I myself asked a series of questions which contained the words "accounts" "contracts" "Manor Residents Association" and "corruption".

All I got for my trouble was a telephone call to my boss, threats to sue me for defamation or character, and virtually every single Labour councillor in the council chamber turned on me, with a series of "How DARE you even suggest such a thing!?" type speeches.

Well, I hope they're as confident now that there's nothing amiss at Manor Residents Association, as they were back in February.

[fred c]

The following is an email sent to HBC, like many others i am at a loss as to why, when the situation was flagged up many months ago it has taken until 19th September for the police to "Raid" MRA.

Two instances stand out to most people who have taken an interest in this Scandal, the 1st is the fact that £40,000 pounds was in a Bank Account the MRA Manager claimed no Knowledge of, for most people that would have set "The Alarm Bells Ringing"

The 2nd instance was the fact that HBC gave a 2 month "Period of Grace" to MRA to "Rectify the Problems" which given the involvement of the Cleveland Police ECU has obviously not been carried out.

There are serious questions that need to be answered about the MRA Scandal, but the most pertinent one is "Why has it taken so long for the police to become involved"......

It appears that the philosophy of, If We Don`t Look For Something......... We Won`t Find Anything, has been applied in relation to the whole scandal.

Sent: 07 June 2013 12:17
Manor Residents Audit Report

**** **** *****

As a member of the public & council tax payer, I would like to register with you my severe misgivings surrounding the behaviour of the current management of Manor Residents Association.

Having read the draft Internal Audit Report, which I am led to believe was commissioned by the previous Mayor and his cabinet, I believe there are serious concerns over the financial management and probity of the Manor Resident organisation.

The report highlights 5 findings and in all 5, the HBC Auditor has classified the risks as HIGH; this fact alone should be of major concern to HBC. The problems within Manor Residents do not appear to be 'random', one-off administrative mistakes, but rather a catalogue of wholesale mal-practice. The administration would appear to be very far removed from normal good business practices.

HBC as a council already have a first-hand account of the issues that can be become problematical within a voluntary sector organisation's management and financial structures; I refer to the problems with the Phoenix Centre demise.

It is apparent that the lessons that were learnt during the investigation into the problems with the Phoenix Centre have not been applied by HBC and we now have a very similar situation with the Manor Residents Association.

There are according to the Auditors report a litany of serious administrative mistakes that give rise to serious questions about Manor Residents Association's financial and management competency.

• No copies of payslips are kept. Officers said MRA needs to be able to demonstrate what has been paid to who and when;

• All staff tax codes for deducting tax are the same. Officers said MRA needs to ensure they receive correct information about tax codes to ensure the correct deductions are made;

• Hardship advances are operated for employees and officers said MRA needs to ensure tax implications of advances are correctly dealt with;

• Under and over payment of tax letters are regularly received from HMRC.
There was also concern about what end of year records are retained, that no attachment of earnings orders due were paid to Hartlepool Borough Council and that a number of invoices were paid as reminders or final demands.

The financial prudence of Manor Residents would appear by the Auditors report to be severely lacking:

"The audit review recommended MRA needs to":

• Implement a comprehensive payroll software package to record all relevant records needed for the proper payment of employees;•

Reconcile and monitor its own bank accounts on a weekly basis;

• Monitor its budgets on a scheme by scheme basis, allowing it to better manage the funds at its disposal and report this to the board.

However the most damaging comment by the Audit team was,

The report says Councillor Wilcox was not aware of the income in the second account
But the audit team said "its omission means the accounts were not an accurate and valid record of MRA financial position"

There are a number of other examples that give serious cause for concern: for example, the financial link between Manor Residents and Who Cares(N/E), despite the two organisations being separate business entities it would appear that Manor Residents have funded both salaries and expenses of some Who Care (N/E) employees

"The audit also found in October last year that MRA paid salaries for Who Cares North East employees by cheque and said payments of that nature need to be properly recorded and agreed at board level"

There is also the recorded case of "The audit also noted that a number of payments had been made by MRA on behalf of Who Cares (NE), including petty cash and petrol costs, with an explanation that "reconciliation" would be carried out at the year-end for MRA to recoup the cost"

The recent court case where Manor Residents was found guilty of breaking employment law is also a reason for serious concern. An organisation funded by the council should be upholding the law of the land and by failing to do so could possibly bring the council itself into dis-repute.

The fact that HBC are at this moment in time subject to a Public Inquiry by Mr T Mitchell is a crucial reason that I am requesting, in the interests of Openess, Transparency & Accountability,  that the Councils two most senior officers request Cleveland Police to investigate the business and financial dealings of Manor Residents and Who Cares (NE).

[marky]

There's far more people than just Wilcox involved. I wonder if you are still so keen when the dominos start to fall. Surely you must have heard how CAB used the council chamber to try to blame the Charity Commission for the dodgy accounts of MR only to be completely contradicted by the Charity Commission. As I understand it, several e-mails have been sent to him asking him to explain why the Charity Commission have completely refuted his version of events and he hasn't responded to any.

Think about it. The man lied - pure and simple - but not only that, he lied about the accounts of an organisation that has now been raided by the Fraud Squad as part of an on-going fraud investigation.

Where does that leave him exactly? 

[mk1]

Where does that leave him exactly?

I suspect he will continue denying everything and asking all those with evidence to 'contact the Police'.
ARC 'aint bothered about lies and deception if it helps keep Labour in control. He is one of those who believe it is far better to have Labour crooks in charge than (say) honest Tories-not that there are many 'honest' Conservatives about at the moment!

I love watching this train wreck unfold.
let us see how cocky ARC is in 6 months time....................

[fred c]

You can`t "Defend the Indefensible"............ but he keeps trying.

He certainly seems to know a lot about what "The Mob" get up to, it might be more Illuminating for him if he attended Council Meetings in person.... It would certainly be more factual.

[ARC86]

Lol  calm down guys and lets see what happens in the next 6 months eh.. i know less about the councillors than you lot seem to think you know.. hope to see you all on the ballot papers next year!

You might just see me at the next one Fred if your unlucky enough, but do say hello, i may not agree with you all but i dont ignore people.. if any of you were at the Safer Hartlepool event on Monday night you will know who i am and what i look like

Any thoughts on the Labour pledge to scrap the bedroom tax?

[enough said]

You can`t "Defend the Indefensible"............ but he keeps trying


dont get me wrong but them that fall in a bath full of s**t all ways come out smelling of roses.

may be we all not looking at it like he is.
all we want is blood and some one to take the flack.

and at the end of the day when doe,s any good come out
of reason never.

when its down to politics you not going to change any thing
wilcox has been there before as you all remember and this scenario
has been going on to long do you think for one minute that labour and stubbs are going to shot there hands up and say there made a mistake.
i some what dont think so.[well would you do] dont think so this is going to take some time to sort out we looking at years not months like some say and by that time.
wilcox will off made amends and moved on making ..MRA..
to good to close down.

im still holding my bet no one gets done from all this.