Pembrokeshire County Council is to complain over Dyfed-Powys Police’s handling of an “extremely unsophisticated and simplistic” alleged commercial Property Grant Scheme fraud in Pembroke Dock which ultimately ended in no convictions.

More than a decade ago Hakin county councillor Cllr Mike Stoddart uncovered irregularities in a council-administered Commercial Property Grant Scheme in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock, funded by the Welsh European Funding Office.

Irregular payments of around £60,000 were found to have been made to a developer – in respect of properties on Dimond Street and Meyrick Street – who offered to pay back a total of £180,000 having received payments for other projects.

The council had to repay £309,000 to WEFO and take steps to rewrite the CPGS procedure manual to close loopholes in order to minimise the opportunities for fraud stated Cllr Stoddart.

After much fighting – and facing false accusations from fellow councillors of lying – Cllr Stoddart’s evidence was reported to police following a formal review in 2014.

In 2019 the Crown Prosecution Service said there would be no charges following the five-year investigation.

Citing county council witness statements with ‘conflicting evidence’ and a missing hard drive that could contain vital evidence, the CPS dismissed an appeal to reconsider bringing charges.

At the March meeting of PCC, a long-awaited report for members was included.

Tenby county counclillor Michael Williams, who was one of the first, along with Cllr Stoddart, to raise concerns back in 2013, said: “We were let down by police, no doubt about that, the investigation was incompetent and the outcome was extremely disappointing.”

Cllr Williams said Cllr Stoddart had asked for an update from police in 2016 after it had been revealed that no arrests had been made, only to be told they only had an obligation to provide an update to the ‘victim,’ the council, not the public.

Cllr Stoddart remarked: “Cover-ups never work; there’s always someone who lifts the covers and gets to it, in this case I’m proud to say it’s me.”

Members – with one abstention – backed the contents of the report, and agreed to write to all relevant policing authorities and watchdogs expressing their concerns over the police handling of the incident.

It was recommended a private prosecution is not pursued by the council, and that all relevant documentation be made available to the Governance and Audit Committee to assist it in its investigation into this issue which has currently been paused.