The former chief executive of Britain’s Post Office said she is returning an honor awarded to her in the name of the monarch, following a major backlash against the organization after hundreds of workers were wrongly convicted of theft.

“I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect,” Paula Vennells said in a statement to the Press Association, referring to the Commander of Order of the British Empire she received in 2019. “I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted.”