Suicide verdict on Abbey IT worker in misconduct probe

The widow of an Abbey IT worker who killed himself after being interrogated over the leaking of a sensitive dossier has blamed bosses at the bank for causing his death.

Richard Chang, 47, had been a suspect in an internal investigation to find the author of documents sent to financial regulators and senior Abbey executives that alleged financial corruption and sexual impropriety in the granting of lucrative IT contracts.

The Abbey investigation found no evidence to support the allegations and hired private investigation agency Kroll to find the documents' author because it feared the employee was a potential threat to the security of the bank's IT systems and wholesale banking business.

After using forensic linguistic techniques and secret fingerprint matching, Kroll identified Chang as a suspect and picked him for face-to-face interrogation. Chang was serving his notice at the time and was lured into a meeting on the morning of 13 July 2004 on the pretence of discussing a replacement for his role with his project manager.

When he turned up he was met by ex-Scotland Yard detective and Kroll investigator Howard Jones as well as Abbey's HR manager. During two and a half hours of questioning, Chang denied the allegations, but less than an hour after leaving the meeting unescorted he jumped to his death from a fifth floor balcony at Abbey's Triton Square headquarters in London.

An Abbey employee who saw the incident said Chang looked "robotic and catatonic" as he threw himself over the balcony with his arms by his side and made no attempt to break the fall. Chang died of multiple injuries. A memo from Chang to Jones was found in a small pile of possessions he had placed on the floor before jumping. The contents of the note have not been disclosed.

A jury at the inquest at St Pancras Coroner's Court in London today took less than an hour to return a verdict of suicide in what the coroner called a "tragic case".

Chang's widow Lay Pen Lim said in a statement released after the verdict that her husband had been deceived into attending the meeting and then subjected to "consistently hectoring and misleading" questioning by Jones.

"I believe that, had this meeting not taken place, Richard would still be with us today. Richard had everything to live for. The children and I are absolutely devastated. We will never get over our loss," she said.

The coroner said he will send a report to employee arbitration service ACAS to help provide guidance for employers dealing with similar investigations in future, although he said this implied no blame on Abbey's conduct.

"When an interview has been conducted the employee should not be unescorted. There is a risk of the employee being rendered vulnerable by the interview. There is an issue about preventing similar fatalities. This case is obviously tragic and employers are going to be faced with these situations in future," the coroner said.