22 March - What a tangled web!
I am not the only recent victim of Councillor Maxine Fothergill’s wild
accusations. She reported the Kent Police officer who proved that Hayley Warnes
did not steal her clients’ money because he let Hayley know he was pleased when she won the libel case
against Fothergill. Fothergill, along with a lone supporter, also reported both Hayley
and surveyor Ray Robson to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for a
whole host of alleged malpractices. It has wasted a great deal of their valuable
time and I am privileged to have seen the rebuttal which was sent to the RICS at the beginning of this week.
The attached documents make interesting reading and there would be enough material
there to keep Bonkers going to the end of the month if it was not so damned
complicated, enlivened only by the unprofessional language from the aforesaid lone
supporter. “Ray (scum of the earth) Robson. Bertie Big Bollocks.” Who is he?
A solicitor’s letter catalogues the claims (said to be not an exhaustive list) made against Fothergill’s business
for alleged malpractice. They fell into the following categories.
• That the time said to be taken up by various tasks was grossly exaggerated.
• That building faults reported by lessees rather than through management companies
were nevertheless billed to the management company.
• That invoices relevant to a management company based in Erith were debited to one based in Dartford.
• Charges for non-contractual services were imposed rather than negotiated as required by the contract.
• Extra charges were imposed for services that were already covered by the contract.
• Contractors were asked to tender before clients had approved job specifications.
One such claim came to a little over £26,000,
a figure that has been mentioned before. There is no indication that
AMAX Estates ever settled the claims made against it.
Rightly or wrongly Councillor Fothergill has attracted a great deal of criticism
for the management of her financial affairs yet she is trusted as Vice-Chairman of
the Resources Scrutiny Committee to oversee much of Bexley Council’s
multi-million pound budget.