Skellett fraud inquiry extended

The City of London fraud squad has extended its investigation into allegations that Colin Skellett, the chairman and chief executive of Wessex Water, is guilty of corruption charges.

Mr Skellett, who was arrested last August, yesterday had his bail extended from this week until mid February while the police complete one last line of questioning.

In a statement, the City fraud squad said it had submitted a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service in December. But it said "an outstanding line of enquiry in another jurisdiction has delayed any decision".

Mr Skellett is alleged to have received a £1m bribe from YTL, a Malaysian company, in order to back its purchase of Wessex from a subsidiary of Enron, the collapsed US energy giant. Mr Skellett has denied the charges on the grounds that the payment was in fact an advance on a consultancy deal with YTL signed after the £1.24bn sale went though.

Mr Skellett, who deposited the money in a UK bank account and paid tax on it, said he was "obviously disappointed" that the matter had not been cleared up this week as hoped.

He added: "However, the bail extension is only for two weeks so I am confident that this outstanding matter will shortly be resolved."