Ex WANdisco chiefs reject call to hand back bonuses worth nearly £650,000

Two former executives of WANdisco, the big data firm hit by a multi-million pound fraud, have reportedly rejected the company’s request to repay nearly £650,000 in bonuses.

Sky News says it understands David Richards, the company’s co-founder and former CEO, and ex finance chief Erik Miller are resisting a request from WANdisco’s board to repay the $832,000 (£647,000) they were awarded for last year.

A spokesman for the Sheffield-headquartered business told Sky: “While the former executives have so far robustly rejected our request for repayment, the board firmly believes this should be the right and fair outcome for shareholders and remains committed to pursuing it.”

The annual bonuses took the respective pay packages of Mr Richards and Mr Miller to $1.14m (£886,100) and $551,000 (£428,300) respectively.

The bonuses have triggered an angry response from WANdisco shareholders, who have seen the value of their holdings plunge since the sales and accounting scam was first uncovered in March.

The company’s shares were suspended from trading and the board brought in Stephen Kelly – former chief executive of Sage Group – as interim boss.

Last month the business secured $30m (£23.3m) in new funding to rescue its operation and trading of its shares resumed on 25 July.

It remains unclear whether WANdisco has any legal power to force Richards and Miller to hand back the money.