An anti-fraud investigator claims he was sacked for being white in the scandal-ridden council of Tower Hamlets, the Daily Telegraph has revealed.
Mark Edmunds, 54, was conducting an investigation into alleged fraud within the Tower Hamlets council where the majority of employees were Ethnic Bengalis.
The council came under fire in 2014 after an election rigging scandal involving the re-election of Britain’s first Muslim Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, who was first elected in 2010.
Rahman was later removed from office after the rigging scandal came to light.
A review found that youth grants were used to bribe voters, according to The Daily Mail.
Tower Hamlets has been in the spotlight over multiple accusations of corruption within the council.
Eighty-Five cases of Female Genital Mutilation were reported in Tower Hamlets in 2016, drawing further negative attention to the infamous council.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Mr Edmunds:
…was made redundant due to being “a white man investigating a service predominantly staffed by Bangladeshi employees where the allegations of corruption were predominantly against Bangladeshi employees”.
Mr Edmunds worked in fraud investigation for the London borough of Tower Hamlets and while he says his job was still needed he was made redundant from his £63,000-a-year job last year.
Following the review where “twelve senior Asian employees were dismissed as a result of Mr Edmunds’ investigations,” The Daily Mail reports that Mr Edmunds was “threatened and harassed and followed by a car.”
‘The threats and intimidation were very real and serious given the history of many of those I was investigating (ie ex-gang members and drug dealers), his witness statement says.
‘Additionally, while conducting investigations I was regularly accused of being a racist and a bully, when all I was doing was my job, in an attempt to intimidate me and derail the investigation process.’
Mr Edmunds is currently suing for $648,000 in a race and sex discrimination case.
The hearing continues.