NWDA reacts to Welch jail term
THE North West Development Agency has responded to the 34 month jail term imposed on Michael Welch, the former head of Digital Industries North West, who stole hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money.
Welch, 47, from Lymm who had skipped his original sentencing, was eventually jailed for theft last week at Warrington Crown Court.
In a statement Steven Zdolyny, director of Legal Services at the NWDA, said: ““In September 2004, the NWDA was alerted to alleged financial irregularities at Digital Industries Northwest (DINW).
“The Agency moved swiftly to instigate a rigorous independent audit, to investigate these allegations.
“Once this audit confirmed there was a potential fraud, the Agency acted swiftly to terminate its agreement with DINW and referred the allegations immediately to the police, who made the decision to prosecute.
“As custodians of public money, the Agency takes any allegation of financial impropriety extremely seriously. We have robust procedures in place to ensure that any financial irregularities are dealt with immediately so we are satisfied to see today’s positive outcome.
“We treat any allegations of financial irregularity very seriously and will always act quickly and decisively to protect public funds.”
Welch was sentenced to 32 months after admitting a theft charge involving £200,000. A further two months was added to his sentence after he failed to appear for sentencing on November 14.
