LONDON (Reuters) – WANdisco, the British software company whose shares are suspended while it investigates possible fraud, said its co-founder and chief executive David Richards and CFO Erik Miller had stepped down on Monday with immediate effect.
The company found “potential fraudulent irregularities” in its accounts last month linked to a senior sales employee, prompting significant going concerns issues.
It said on Monday an investigation by FRP Advisory had confirmed that orders giving rise to revenue of $14.9 million dollars in 2022 were false and sales bookings of $115.4 million were also false.
Accordingly 2022 revenue referenced in a trading update in January should have been $9.7 million, rather than not less than $24 million, and booking should have been $11.4 million, not $127 million.
The ongoing investigation supported the view that one employee was responsible, the company said.
The board changes were not connected to the findings of the investigation, it added.
However, the objective to lift the suspension of the company’s shares and to position it for success was best pursued under new leadership, it said.
Ken Lever, appointed interim chair last month, would run the company until a new chief executive was appointed, the company said.
It also appointed Ijoma Maluza, previously CFO of Blue Prism, as interim CFO from April 11.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton)
