Three deny Olympic Stadium fraud plot

THREE men have pleaded not guilty to an alleged fraud plot linked to a failed bid to take over the Olympic Stadium.

Richard Forrest, 31, Lee Stewart, 39, and Howard Hill, 58, all denied charges of conspiring to commit fraud by false representation at London’s Southwark Crown Court.

Hill and Forrest pleaded not guilty to conspiring together to make a false representation to obtain confidential information to make a financial gain between June and August 2011.

Hill and Stewart also pleaded not guilty to a similar count of conspiring to commit fraud 
between June and August 2011.

The allegations date back to the original bidding war to see who would move in to the 
Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Games. Tottenham Hotspur, Leyton Orient and West Ham all made bids.

The investigation was prompted by claims from West Ham United and the Olympic Park Legacy Company that Tottenham had spied on Olympic officials during its stadium bid. Tottenham denied the claims.

Forrest, of Crawley, West Sussex; Stewart, of Esher, Surrey; and Hill, of Stockport, Greater Manchester, are due to appear for trial at the same court on 14 January.

A new bidding process was undertaken after the original one collapsed, and West Ham have now been confirmed as the anchor tenants of the stadium in Stratford, east London.