£2.5 million pound of financial irregularities on Council roofing contract under investigation
Anthony Wallner (pictured) is not a name you would have heard of. But regular readers won’t be surprised to learn that he is the Asset & Major Works Senior Specialist at Folkestone & Hythe District Council.
Mr Wallner was suspended in late Feb/early March and is under investigation by the Council’s HR Department, due to financial irregularities amounting to five times the contract value on the Premier Roofing & Construction Ltd contract, which began on the 16 Dec 2019.
The contract was to undertake the replacement of flat roof coverings and associated works, including scaffolding; asbestos sampling and removal and external repairs. To be carried out on a planned annual basis to domestic properties, sheltered schemes and blocks of flats as identified by East Kent Housing (EKH). Joint procurement led by Thanet District Council & OJEU notice 2019/S 250-620065.
The initial value of the two year contract was estimated at £484,056, however, payments made to Premier Roofing & Construction Limited at 31 March 2022, was £2,431,897. That is five times the value of the contract. Hence why the Council’s HR Department are currently investigating the financial irregularities, as Mr Wallner was the man who signed off the payments.
Mr Wallner has come under scrutiny over contract and financial irregularities before while at Medway Council. Mr Wallner left Medway due to financial irregularities on contracts and a sexual harassment claim. In his time at Medway, Deborah Upton was a colleague of Mr Wallner’s . After leaving Medway Council, Mr Wallner arrives at East Kent Housing now defunct, whose Chief Executive was Deborah Upton, who arrived at EKH in 2016.
As we understand Mr Wallner owns property in Thailand to a value in excess of a million pounds, according to journalists we have spoken to in Thailand.
I am led to believe that Mr Wallners employment at Medway council ended under a cloud at the direction of Neil Davies, the chief executive and by complete coincidence husband of Deborah Upton when financial irregularities were discovered, he was transferred to EKH immediately with no action taken regarding the financial issues or an allegation of sexual harassment, could it be that Deborah employed him in ignorance of her husband having dismissed him?
Stranger things have happened at sea I suppose.
It seems to me it may be either a case of Deborah Upton failed to check Mr Wallners application properly, her and her husband never discuss work and and Mr Wallner lied (thereby gaining a pecuniary advantage)to get the job or Deborah and her husband did talk work, she new all about Mr Wallners past and knowingly employed him for some reason yet to be discovered?