WANdisco CEO and CFO depart as fraud investigation continues

(Alliance News) - WANdisco PLC on Monday said Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer David Richards ...

Alliance News 3 April, 2023 | 8:38AM
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(Alliance News) - WANdisco PLC on Monday said Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer David Richards and Chief Financial Officer Erik Miller have decided to step down, amid an investigation by FRP Advisory.

The Sheffield, England-based data migration platform said Non-Executive Chair Ken Lever will move to executive chair pending the appointment of a new CEO. A search will begin shortly.

WANdisco named Ijoma Maluza as its new CFO. Maluza previously was CFO of automation software firm Blue Prism PLC.

In March, WANdisco suspended trading in its shares after uncovering signs of possible "sophisticated" fraudulent activity, just days after it announced it was exploring a potential US listing.

WANdisco on Monday noted that the board changes are not connected to the findings to date of the independent investigation, which is "progressing well".

"Over the years David and Erik have contributed significant time and effort to establishing and developing WANdisco. They remain meaningful shareholders in the business and continue to believe in the long-term, successful future for this company and its unique technology," Lever said.

"It is in the best interests of all stakeholders if [the objective of lifting the suspension of company shares] is pursued under new leadership," WANdisco said.

WANdisco said the investigation so far has confirmed that both the purchase orders giving rise to revenue of USD14.9 million and sales bookings of USD115.5 million recorded for 2022 are false.

Accordingly, it said 2022 revenue should have been USD9.7 million and not USD24 million as previously reported. Bookings should have been USD11.4 million, instead of USD127 million.

Last month, WANdisco explained that, following investigations by its CFO and CEO, it had discovered "significant, sophisticated and potentially fraudulent irregularities" with regard to received purchase orders and related revenue and bookings, as represented by one senior sales employee.

At the time, WANdisco said the irregularities would "significantly impact" its cash position and lead to "material uncertainty" regarding its overall financial position.

"The results of the independent investigation to date continue to support the initial view that the irregularities are as a result of the actions of one senior sales employee," WANdisco said on Monday.

By Xindi Wei, Alliance News reporter

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
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Wandisco PLC 38.00 GBX -4.40 -

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