Sordid inside story of how Wisr CEO Anthony Nantes was sacked and arrested after a female employee threatened to tell his WIFE about their secret romance
EXCLUSIVE
The founder of an ASX-listed financial technology company stalked a female employee after she threatened to reveal their secret romance to his wife – prompting his resignation as CEO, Ny Breaking Australia can reveal.
Former Wisr chief executive Anthony Nantes, 44, this week pleaded guilty to stalking the woman, 32, in Sydney between December 2022 and March 2023.
The development comes four months after he was sensationally stepped down from his role as the fintech company's top boss in August – just days before he was arrested by police.
According to court facts obtained by Ny Breaking Australia, Nantes harassed the woman for months by bombarding her with emails, sending threatening messages under the guise of bank deposits, and randomly showing up at her home.
The story began when Nantes began an affair with the staffer in 2019 – just three years after he married his wife and the mother of his three children, Cassi, in an intimate ceremony in Bali.
The clandestine workplace relationship lasted for three years until the situation began to unravel in early December 2022.
Anthony Nantes, 44, has admitted to stalking a Wisr employee
Nantes is pictured with his wife Cassi, with whom he shares three children
According to the facts, around that time the woman started to feel intimidated when Nantes started bombarding her with text messages, and the relationship quickly deteriorated when the couple started arguing.
During one of the fights, the woman threatened to reveal the affair to Nantes' wife and other key players at Wisr. In return, the financial entrepreneur threatened to take legal action against her, claiming she was blackmailing him.
Tensions were high on December 8 when Nantes clashed at her home in North Bondi, in the city's eastern suburbs, and an argument broke out, according to court documents.
The woman asked Nantes to leave, but he initially refused. He finally left after a few minutes.
Three weeks later he sent a small deposit to the woman's bank account, with the description: “Liar and you should be ashamed of yourself for being so cruel to me over and over again.”
The situation cooled down for a few weeks before it flared up again in early March when, according to the facts, Nantes bombarded the woman with more than fifty emails.
The woman responded to some, but not all, of the messages.
Dissatisfied with her answers, Nantes decided he wanted to confront her personally and came to her house days later.
According to court documents, the woman was walking out of her apartment building when she saw Nantes hanging around outside.
She continued walking down the street, but Nantes followed and begged her to talk to him as she repeatedly told him to leave, according to court documents.
Nantes was a high-flying businessman in the years before his arrest
Nantes (pictured) was dumped as CEO of the company in the days before he was indicted
When he continued to ignore her requests, the woman became afraid and entered a restaurant to seek refuge.
It was only when an employee approached him and asked him to go that Nantes agreed to leave.
According to the facts, Nantes' behavior made her fear for her safety – and she later reported the incidents to the police.
Nantes founded the fintech company in March 2018 after rebranding DirectMoney Finance as Wisr Finance under an entirely new business model.
Wisr – with a current market cap of $36 million – is a non-bank lender, or neo-lender, that gives people personal or car loans with adjusted interest rates based on their credit scores.
Over the past five years, the company has won numerous awards, including the Australian Banking and Innovation Awards Most Innovative Financial Institution 2020 and the Finnies Outstanding Fintech Leader of the Year 2020.
From the helm, Nantes presented himself as a high-flying businessman, regularly appearing in media interviews, podcasts and speaking at industry events.
Five months after Nantes' last confrontation with the woman, Wisr announced on August 16 that he had stepped down and would be replaced as CEO by the company's chief financial officer, Andrew Goodwin.
The next day Nantes met with police in Dee Why. He then went to Bondi police station the next day, August 18, where he was arrested and charged.
Nantes is pictured speaking about finance at an event on corporate health and wellbeing
In a statement at the time, the company said the termination was “not as a result of any financial irregularity or regulatory breach” and that it was aware the former CEO was “the subject of criminal proceedings initiated by the NSW Police '.
“The Wisr board had concluded in recent months that Anthony was unable to fulfill the role of CEO at the level required by the board and as such the board took action to terminate his employment contract,” Wisr said in a statement a statement from ASX.
“As these matters are before the courts, the company cannot comment further.”
Following the termination, his brother, Wisr chairman John Nantes, subsequently temporarily resigned from his position for two months so that stakeholders could assess Nantes' employment status “without any perception of conflicting interests.”
Ny Breaking Australia has contacted Wisr for comment.
There is currently an AVO in place banning Nantes from contacting, stalking, harassing or intimidating the woman or her loved ones for two years.
Nantes will be sentenced at Waverley Local Court on January 10, 2024.
If convicted in local court, stalking carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison or a $5,500 fine.