Sacked Irish water chief was convicted con man

[TonyGosling]

Ousted water chief Laurence MacKenzie is convicted embezzler
MP questions lack of checks into background of former head of Northern Ireland Water - Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 10 January 2011 16.51 GMT
Laurence MacKenzie swindled a church in Scotland out of £2,000 almost 30 years ago. He lost his job as head of Northern Ireland Water after leaks left tens of thousands of homes without water over Christmas and the New Year. Photograph: Paul Faith/PA
The ousted Northern Ireland Water chief executive, Laurence MacKenzie, is a convicted embezzler who stole cash from a Scottish church, it has been revealed.
That led to questions today as to why proper checks were not carried out into his background by the ministry responsible before his appointment.
South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said it was puzzling that no one checked MacKenzie's background when appointing him to the top post in the troubled state-owned water utility. "I find it extremely odd that he reached the highest echelons of this organisation given that background. What checking mechanisms have they got in place? Clearly they didn't check deeper enough," the SDLP leader said.
MacKenzie swindled his church in the Scottish Highlands out of £2,000 almost 30 years ago.
The 49-year-old was ousted last week from his £250,000-a-year job as head of the water company after the leaks fiasco that left tens of thousands of homes in Northern Ireland without water over Christmas and new year.
MacKenzie stole the money in 1982 from West Kirk in Thurso, Caithness, while he was working for the Bank of Scotland. A spokesman for the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh said: "We can confirm that, following an investigation, Mr MacKenzie was convicted and removed from his post as treasurer in 1982."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/10/ousted-water-chief-convicted- embezzler