Ex-CEO of Southern Water among four charged with conspiracy to defraud

22nd July, 2026 | News

Former Southern Water CEO Charged Over Alleged Wastewater Testing Fraud

Former Southern Water Chief Executive Matthew Wright has been charged with conspiracy to defraud alongside three former colleagues over allegations of manipulating wastewater testing results between 2012 and 2017.

The charges, brought by the Environment Agency (EA), accuse Wright, Philip Barker, Clive Massey, and Mark Gregory of conspiring to mislead the EA and water regulator Ofwat by exploiting the Operator Self-Monitoring (OSM) compliance system. The OSM regime requires water companies to test wastewater treatment plants and report results to regulators to ensure environmental standards are met.

According to prosecutors, the defendants allegedly created artificial “no-flow” events at wastewater treatment works during scheduled testing periods. Under the rules at the time, if wastewater flow was too low for sampling, the test was not recorded as a failure, allowing companies to avoid reporting poor environmental performance and potential multimillion-pound penalties.

The case follows an internal Southern Water investigation in 2017, after which the company reported the issues to regulators. Southern Water is also facing separate charges over alleged breaches of environmental permit conditions at several treatment facilities between 2013 and 2017.

The company says the alleged offences relate to historical failures and insists it has undergone major reforms under new leadership, investing heavily in environmental improvements. It also reiterated its previous apology to customers following penalties imposed by Ofwat in 2019.

Matthew Wright denies all allegations, with his solicitor stating that he has fully cooperated with the Environment Agency’s investigation.

The Environment Agency said it remains committed to prosecuting serious environmental offences, while the UK government vowed that anyone found guilty of polluting the environment would face the full force of the law.