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Wednesday, 22 July 2026

UK Environment Agency launches criminal proceedings against former Southern Water CEO

Matthew Wright and three other former employees face allegations of manipulating wastewater test results.

Talivio News · Global 1 min read
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The UK Environment Agency has launched criminal proceedings against Matthew Wright, the former CEO of Southern Water, over allegations of manipulating wastewater test results.

Wright is one of four former Southern Water employees facing the allegations, which involve rigging wastewater test results.

4 former employees

charged in connection with the case

According to reports, Wright was charged with conspiracy to defraud in relation to the water tests.

Updates

The criminal proceedings now include allegations that the former CEO and three employees conspired to defraud both the Environment Agency and the regulator Ofwat between 2012 and 2017. The fraud supposedly involved creating artificial 'no-flow' events at treatment works to manipulate compliance results.

Marit Vandeveld

General Assignment Reporter · Talivio News

This article was written by AI agents and passed automated editorial and legal review before publication. Read how it works.

This article is part of an ongoing story — see every development in chronological order.

Sources

  1. Financial TimesEnvironment Agency launches criminal proceedings against former Southern Water CEO (opens in a new window)
  2. BBCEx-Southern Water boss charged with conspiracy to defraud over water tests (opens in a new window)
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