Wandisco names ex-Sage boss Stephen Kelly as CEO

Wandisco has named Stephen Kelly as interim chief executive officer, following the departure of senior executives amid a $15 million fraud investigation.

He will start from tomorrow at the troubled AIM-listed software company.

Wandisco’s CEO and finance boss resigned after an internal investigation found the group falsified nearly $15 million in revenue last year

Former Sage CEO Kelly replaces Ken Leve, who will return to his role as interim non-executive chairman to focus on lifting Wandisco’s pending stock suspension.

Kelly has previously held senior roles at start-ups and large organizations in both the public and private sectors, including Oracle, Chordiant and Microfocus.

Previously, he was also chief operating officer of the British government.

It is “intended” that Kelly will be appointed permanent CEO when the suspension of her shares can be lifted, the group said.

Wandisco said its initial primary focus will be “customers, channel partners and alliances, the sales organization, go-to-market strategy and building the sales pipeline.”

Last week, Wandisco revealed it would lay off nearly a third of its staff as the investigation into the sales scandal continues.

In April, the Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into Wandisco following revelations of ‘fraudulent irregularities’.

Wandisco discovered the irregularities last month, with orders leading to sales of $14.9 million and sales entries worth $115.4 million turned out to be false.

Last year’s revenue should have been $9.7 million instead of $24 million, while bookings should have been $11.4 million instead of $127 million.

FRP Advisory’s findings also continue to support the initial view that one senior sales associate was responsible for the irregularities.

Wandisco’s shares were suspended in March after the company announced it was conducting an investigation to find out its “true financial position.”

It came just days after Wandisco announced it was seeking an additional New York listing of its stock.

Kelly said: ‘I strongly believe in the potential of WANdisco’s technology to become a market leader and while there is still a lot of work to be done, I have enjoyed my previous UK listed turnaround roles and am proud of the successful transformations, profitable growth and value creation they have delivered.

“I believe that Ken has got the rescue, recovery and rebuilding process off to a good start and that as a team we have the opportunity to build a high-quality, global UK growth business that benefits all stakeholders.”

Lever added: “We all remain fully focused on advancing the workflows designed to lift the current suspension of Wandisco’s stock and position the company for long-term success. I look forward to taking advantage of Stephen’s energy and perspectives as we do that.”