Letter suspect died during probe

A bank employee fell to his death from a balcony after being questioned over anonymous letters sent to bosses alleging corruption, an inquest heard.

Richard Chang, 48, of Hackney, east London, had been at the centre of an internal inquiry at Abbey's headquarters in Euston, central London.

Security consultants Kroll were asked to find the source of the letters, St Pancras Coroner's Court heard.

Mr Chang fell five storeys from a balcony at work on 13 July 2004.

The inquest heard former Scotland Yard detective Howard Jones had been interrogating the worker and felt he was close to securing a confession.

He was his normal, cheerful self that morning Mr Chang's wife Lay Pen Ling

The letters raised concerns about the way computer system contracts were awarded but also contained remarks about the sexuality of managers, Abbey's lawyer Robin Parkinson said.

A similar letter was sent to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) but it decided not to investigate the allegations as they were raised in an inappropriate way.

Mr Parkinson said an internal inquiry into the corruption allegations found they were untrue.

He also said bosses wanted to find out who the sender was, as they believed it was an employee who knew the company's computer systems and therefore had the power to disrupt them.

Notice handed in

Human rescources staff had planned to meet Mr Chang after the questioning but they did not do so and shortly afterwards he died.

His wife Lay Pen Ling told the inquest of her disbelief at the death of her husband who had handed in his notice and planned to start working at another bank.

She said: "He was his normal, cheerful self that morning."

The inquest continues.