Corrupt bosses' practices 'parasitic blight on society'

£2 MILLION FRAUD PERPETRATED TO SECURE LUCRATIVE CONTRACTS

- By DYLAN HAYWARD

BOSSES at a construction company bribed officials at a major housing development to secure contracts.

The fraud, totalling £2 million, was related to the construction of a new community, Cranbook, in East Devon.

Energy firm E.ON was awarded a contract to provide district heating for the development in 2010.

Richard King, 51, of Husbands Bosworth, who ran RK Civil Engineering Ltd (RKC) which had its registered office in Husbands Bosworth and then Quorn and business partner Timothy Patterson, 56, made illegal payments to two E.ON managers to maintain their company's status as a preferred contractor.

Mark Baker, appointed as E.ON's head of projects and later head of build, and Matthew Heyward, a quantity surveyor responsible for signing off work, accepted bribes.

Baker's role included deciding which companies should be given construction contracts at Cranbrook and later at other UK locations, while Heyward authorised contractor invoices.

From early 2012 to late 2015, a court heard, RKC paid bribes to Baker totalling about £175,000, while Heyward accepted a total of £1.4 million.

The payments were in forms including cash deposits, bank transfers, luxury vehicles, hotel rooms and free building work.

Another company, Priddy Engineering Limited, controlled by Andrew Blunsdon, also paid bribes to both Baker and Heyward.