Barnsley Football Club owner faces court on plot charge

City regulatory body the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has confirmed it has started proceedings against Patrick Cryne, as well as three of his fellow former directors of iSoft.

Mr Cryne, the firm's ex-chairman and founder, along with former chief executive Timothy Whiston and ex-directors Stephen Graham and John Whelan have been summonsed to appear at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on January 29 for the offence of conspiracy to make misleading statements, according to the FSA.

The proceedings come three-and-a-half years after the FSA launched an investigation into possible accounting irregularities at the healthcare technology firm. Last night the watchdog confirmed it had now ended investigations into the firm itself.

The company, which was involved in the NHS software programme, known as the National Programme for IT, initially alerted the FSA itself after its own investigations found evidence of irregularities affecting the financial years ending April 2004 and 2005.

Shortly after these came to light in August 2006, the group was forced to restate its financial results relating to earlier years.

A change in accounting policies meant that 174m of revenues booked since 2003 had to be realised in future years instead.

The company, which had also been beset by infamous delays to the 12.7bn NHS computer project, subsequently revealed mammoth net losses of 382.2m for 2005 after writing down the value of a major acquisition it made in 2004. The losses wiped out previously reported profits.

Mr Cryne quit iSoft in October 2005, citing health reasons related to arthritis.

ISoft, based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, has since been sold to Australian software firm IBA Health, which renamed itself iSoft after the takeover in 2007.

The parent group last night welcomed the FSA's decision to end its inquiry into the firm and stressed that it did not employ any of the former iSoft directors investigated by the watchdog.

ISoft executive chairman and chief executive Gary Cohen said: "The FSA result brings to a conclusion one of the remaining legacies of the former iSoft which we acquired in 2007.

"We co-operated fully with the investigation and welcome the FSA's decision."