The mystery surrounding MG Rover's collapse could eventually be solved by Britain's Serious Fraud Office, which is considering opening a criminal investigation into the matter.
According to business minister Peter Mandelson, "There has been a comprehensive and thorough investigation into the events which led to the company failing, workers losing their jobs and creditors not getting paid. The SFO must now see if there are grounds for prosecution."
The news of a possible fraud investigation follows a lengthy and expensive government report which details the circumstances surrounding the company's collapse. Although the report was completed last month, the government won't release it until the SFO has completed any possible criminal prosecutions.
MG Rover imploded in 2005, under the control of a group of executives known as the "Phoenix Four". In an interview with the BBC, the executives' spokesman, Ramsay Smith, said the investigation is baseless. He added that "At all times during the last four years, the directors of MG Rover cooperated fully with the investigation by the DTI inspectors and accounted very willingly for their actions. It now seems quite extraordinary (that) people, and, politicians in particular, are questioning yet another episode of investigation into something that happened four years ago: It's taken 16 million pounds of taxpayers' money to get to this stage."
