‘I have sinned’, admits disgraced ex-bank chairman
DISGRACED former chairman of the Co-op Bank Paul Flowers said he was ostracised by former colleagues after being caught up in allegations of illegal drug use.
Speaking to Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight he said “one or two” staff had kept in contact, “but they were politely told by more senior people not to be in touch”.
Paxman asked if he had been “cast into the outer darkness”, and Flowers, who is from Bradford, replied, “In Dante’s Inferno there’s the possibility of crawling out of the pit”.
When asked if he had sinned he replied: “Of course I have and I’m in company with every other human being for having my frailties and some of my fragilities exposed. Most people get through life without that ever coming into the public domain.”
In November The Mail on Sunday published a video showing Paul Flowers, who is also a Methodist minister, handing over £300 in a car, apparently to buy cocaine. He was later arrested by police in connection with a drugs supply investigation. When asked if he had ever taken drugs while chair of the Co-op Bank he said he could not answer, citing a police investigation.
In a wide ranging interview Mr Flowers said the Co-op’s 2008 merger with Britannia had been cleared by three due diligence reports by its auditor KPMG and two “fancy merchant bankers”.
“All of them said this was a great deal. Each of them pointed out there were issues with the corporate lending book but that could be addressed by what was called a fair value adjustment in the accounts.”
He said the Co-op was under considerable pressure from the Government to complete the acquisition of around 600 Lloyds branches which collapsed last April.
