By contrast in its last year the Liable Relatives Unit offset pounds 313m of maintenance against state funds at a cost of pounds

By contrast, in its last year, the Liable Relatives Unit offset pounds 313m of maintenance against state funds, at a cost of pounds 61m.Of the 500,000 cases which the CSA handled last year, more than three- quarters were cleared with the absent parent being asked for pounds 2.30 a week or less, and because of the nature of the formula many people who were previously paying at least something are now effectively paying nothing. From Mr Richard Oppenheimer Sir: The response by Tony Ward, director of operations at the Child Support Agency (Letters, 16 October), to Polly Toynbee's article is misleading. Last year, as a result of its own actions, the CSA collected pounds 64m of maintenance for offset against state funds, at a cost of pounds 192.4m. The monies were not recovered from the people who benefited from the fraud, but from people who were taken in by Keith Moore and who, sadly for them, have had to refund Sting out of their own, albeit corporate, pockets.Yours faithfully,Christopher BurleyBurley and CoSolicitorsLondon, WC218 October. However, with my help, that of Nick Valner of Frere Cholmeley Bischoff and that of Sting's manager, Miles Copeland, nearly all the money has been recovered.

Neither Sting nor anyone else would spot a fraud which took the Fraud Squad three years to prove.It was a clever fraud perpetrated against many people. Such bank accounts are not unusual for an internationally successful music artist, with large amounts of income being received and legitimate expenses being paid out constantly. The fact that he managed to defraud so many normally careful business people illustrates the devious and clever nature of the fraud, which was practised by Keith Moore under the umbrella of a large number of banks and bank accounts. No one else received copies of Sting's bank statements, not only because his personal finances are confidential to him, his accountant and the tax authorities, but because as Sting and his wife controlled those accounts there was no reason for anyone else to be involved.Keith Moore not only defrauded Sting, but also various bankers, a publishing company and the Inland Revenue.

Keith Moore, as his accountant, had the responsibility for reviewing Sting's bank statements and to advise Sting on where his monies should go. This was except for very specific and safeguarded situations, such as paying tax, VAT and tour expenses. As this was the case and as Sting signed thousands of individual cheques over the years, like anyone else having bank accounts he felt in complete control of them. From Mr Christopher Burley Sir: Was Sting too rich to notice his ex-accountant, Keith Moore, had stolen over pounds 6m, for which Keith Moore has been sent to prison for six years? As Sting's solicitor and the person involved in recovering nearly all the stolen monies (report, 18 October), hopefully the following description of the fraud will put the record straight. All Sting's and his companies' income received in respect of his career was paid into bank accounts on which only Sting or his wife could sign. It may be reasonable that funding of hidden losses of a few million pounds a day (which would be included in the huge overall funding) would not to be noticed on a day-to-day basis; but as these losses accumulate gradually, the overall funding would increase in parallel.If Barings had had in place a regular report comparing the total positions against the total funding, a gradually increasing gap would have been seen and it would have been possible to take the necessary action before it became too late.Yours,Adil DedeSenior ManagerTreasury DepartmentDaiwa Europe LimitedLondon, EC4. In summary: total funding = (total position +/- profit/loss).In the case of Barings, losses were hidden in an "error account" that was not reported, but these losses still had to be funded This funding was done through Barings' London office.

The Race Relations Act 1976 contains provisions for "positive action" measures to be taken. These include providing training for, and encouraging applications from, under-represented racial groups. Further details and advice can be obtained from the nearest offices of the Race Relations Employment Advisory Service and the Commission for Racial Equality. Yours faithfully,Austen CooperCroydon, Surrey. From Mr Adil Dede Sir: Since Nick Leeson's "hidden error account", with its huge losses accumulated over the years, brought down Barings, Daiwa's Toshihide Iguchi has reaffirmed that hundreds of millions of dollars of hidden losses can go undetected, albeit in a different form and using different instruments. In their report on Barings, Singapore's inspectors highlight that bank's failure to analyse and understand Leeson's request for large sums of funds as a major contribution to Barings' collapse (report, 18 October). Companies with large securities operations, such as Barings and Daiwa, hold huge multi-currency positions in a variety of instruments, and thus have hundreds of millions of daily funding requirement. The funding of these positions also includes any realised profit/loss resulting from the company's daily trading activities.