Ex-Post Office chief Paula Vennells and other former executives involved in the Horizon scandal may have to hand back bonuses, a minister said on Wednesday.
Postal services minister Kevin Hollinrake stressed that a public inquiry was key to identifying who was to blame for more than 700 sub-postmasters and postmistresses being wrongly convicted in the biggest miscarriage of justice in British history.
He backed Ms Vennells’ decision to hand back her CBE and did not foresee a problem with Whitehall’s forfeiture committee going through the formal process for the gong to be withdrawn.
Pressed on whether she should give back her bonuses, Mr Hollinrake told Times Radio: “She has done the right thing (on the CBE), that’s the first thing to so say.
“If it’s on your watch something like this happens, then you have got to do the right thing.”
He warned against “trial by media” over the Horizon scandal.
But he emphasised: “We have got a statutory inquiry...that is going through a very exhaustive process, it will conclude by the end of the year.
“Then we will know who is actually responsible for this, be it individuals or organisations.
“Then we can hold people to account, including some of the questions you asked then, whether it be bonuses or indeed about prosecutions.
“This is certainly possible that people are guilty of a crime in this and where there is evidence of that of course there should be action taken.”
Mr Hollinrake later told LBC Radio: “The inquiry should do its work, it should report.
“If it identifies Paula Vennells as somebody who is responsible, and I’m not saying that’s not unlikely, but I think we should go through a process.
“Then we can decide what sanctions might be available for individuals.
“That might include financial penalties or indeed it might include criminal prosecutions.”
Ms Vennells is believed to have received nearly £3 million in performance-related perks and payments in lieu of pension.
Asked about the ex-Post Office boss giving back some of her bonus money, the minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We don’t know if Paula Vennells is the guilty party yet.
“I thought she should give her award back on the basis that she was chief executive at the time, a time of great failure and scandal at the Post Office, that was the reason.
“At this point in time, I don’t think we can say ‘you are the person responsible’.
But pressed on her bonuses, he added: “It may well be that is a sanction that we can place on Paula Vennells but I don’t think we want a witch hunt, a trial by media, we have got an inquiry.”
However, it was suggested to Mr Hollinrake that the justice for the postermasters was happening because of the media after the failure of the State to deliver it so far.
Ministers have been holding talks with senior judges about the option of an Act of Parliament to exonerate the hundreds of postmasters wrongly convicted, which would speed up moves to allow them to claim compensation.
Mr Hollinrake added: “These are very complex issues. They potentially cut across judicial processes of course which are independent of government so it’s a very significant step if we take that step so we have got to take that step very carefully, that is what we are looking at now.”
Rishi Sunak may give an update at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Mr Hollinrake said an announcement on the Horizon scandal is "imminent" and the Government believes it has a "solution".
Mr Hollinrake told Sky News he could not promise a "particular timeframe" as a decision "has not been finalised".
"We're very, very close," he said, refusing to "speculate" as to whether an announcement might come as soon as Wednesday afternoon.
The spotlight has also turned on IT giant Fujitsu, after its faulty accounting software Horizon helped lead to the conviction of more than 700 Post Office branch managers.
Since 2012, the company has been awarded almost 200 contracts worth billions, with growing questions about why the Government has not severed ties with the firm in the wake of the scandal.
Bosses at Fujitsu have been called to answer questions from MPs on the Business and Trade Committee next week, after an ITV drama on the scandal fuelled public attention on the issue.
Some 130 people affected by the Horizon scandal have come forward since ITV's Mr Bates Vs The Post Office starring actor Toby Jones, dramatising the miscarriage of justice, was aired.
Kevin Hollinrake told Sky News: "I think 130 people have come forward to one of the key solicitors in this... so it's good that people are coming forward."
He urged anyone affected to make themselves known to the compensation scheme itself or the Government, promising processes would be "quick".
