WANdisco fraud investigation singles out one senior sales employee
An independent investigation into potential fraud at big data firm, WANdisco, has concluded that all purchase orders associated with one particular senior sales employee in question are “illegitimate.”
The probe by FRP Advisory has also today reported that all other purchase orders – those not associated with or secured by this particular employee – are legitimate.
FRP Advisory’s investigation states: “There is no credible evidence that there are any customers using the company’s technology and who believe they are making payments to either the company, an authorised reseller or partner but who are instead making payments unwittingly or unknowingly to an unauthorised third party.
“However, notwithstanding that it would be technically extremely difficult for a third party to implement and deploy the company’s product without the knowledge and support of the company, it is not possible to provide a completely definitive conclusion that there has been no unauthorised use by a third party.
“It remains the case that the evidence identified supports the initial view that the irregularities are as a result of the actions of one senior sales employee only.”
Kenneth Lever, executive chairman of Sheffield-headquartered WANdisco, responded: “We are pleased to receive these findings, which confirm the limits of the impact of the identified irregularities in line with our announcement of April 3.
“The Board remains squarely focused on workstreams to lift the suspension of our shares as soon as is practicable and position WANdisco for long-term growth and success.”
The business is also currently subject to a separate investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority.
WANdisco warned the London Stock Exchange about potentially fraudulent purchase and sales orders on 9 March, when it said its 2022 revenue forecast might be slashed from $24m to as low as $9m.
FRP’s interim report has confirmed that purchase orders worth $15m and sales bookings of $115m in 2022 are false, and that WANdisco’s full-year revenues for 2022 should have been $9.7m. The same report also confirms unaudited bookings should have been $11.4m, rather than $127m.
Trading in WANdisco shares has been suspended since 9 March, but the firm has operated and traded as usual.
Early this month, David Richards, co-founder and chief executive and chief financial officer Erik Miller resigned from the WANdisco board and leadership team. They said their resignations were unrelated to findings of the interim report.
The business has today said that Ijoma Maluza began working as interim chief financial officer on 11 April as planned, following confirmation of his appointment on 3 April.
The company’s Board is continuing to focus on securing a new chief executive officer.
