The UK’s finance watchdog has begun an investigation into beleaguered tech firm WANdisco amid concerns over fraud.
The investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority follows an internal probe into suspected fraud at the company which found over $115 million in missing bookings.
WANdisco said it “has been notified by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) of its commencement of an investigation into the Company.”
“The Board is co-operating with the FCA in this endeavour, in addition to continuing to support the completion of the independent investigation already being undertaken,” the firm said.
In a shock announcement to the stock exchange last month, WANdisco tore up its guidance for 2022 and said an investigation was under way to identify its “true financial position”.
What it called “significant, sophisticated and potentially fraudulent irregularities” related to revenue booked by “one senior sales employee”. They amounted to “a potential material misstatement of the company’s financial position” and “uncertainty regarding its overall financial position and significant going concern issues”, the statement said.
Just weeks ago, the Sheffield-based tech firm, which also has a base in California, said it was eyeing a listing in the US after it surpassed a $1 billion market cap. But its fortunes quickly turned following the discovery of missing sales bookings, forcing its CEO and CFO to abruptly quit and the firm’s shares to be suspended from the London Stock Exchange.
CEO David Richards said: “I am sad to be leaving WANdisco after 18 extremely enjoyable years. I remain a passionate supporter and significant shareholder of the company.”
WANdisco said the CEO and CFO’s departure did not relate to its internal investigation.
The company brought in Ken Lever, who until recently was chair of waste management business Biffa, to become the firm’s interim chair as well as run its fraud investigation alongside non-exec director Peter Lees and audit committee chair Karl Monaghan.
South Yorkshire police and police from San Francisco, the home of the company’s US base, told the Standard they had not had any reports from WANdisco relating to fraud. WANdisco and the London Stock Exchange declined to comment on whether police were involved in the investigation. The Serious Fraud Office said it could neither confirm nor deny whether it was investigating the incident.
