Blue Label Telecoms has suspended two senior executives pending an investigation into possible irregularities, details of which the JSE-listed group has declined to disclose at this stage.
TechCentral has established that the group last week suspended Alan Kodesh, the chairman and until recently CEO of Ventury Group – the entity that houses various group businesses in the prepaid space, including Cigicell – as well as Warren Lampert, who is listed on LinkedIn as Cigicell financial director.
Blue Label co-CEO Mark Levy confirmed the suspensions to TechCentral on Monday.
Although he declined to provide details of what the investigation has uncovered so far, or what prompted it, Levy emphasised that Blue Label has zero tolerance for “this sort of behaviour”.
He also declined to comment on the amount of money involved, saying this hasn’t been determined yet and that market talk about figures is nothing more than speculation at this stage.
‘Very aggressive’
He said Blue Label does not wish to “speculate” about the developments through the media. “We need to do things properly,” he said, adding that Blue Label is being “very aggressive” in its investigation and “will tolerate none of this”.
He confirmed that no charges have been laid yet. Charges may, however, follow once the investigation has been completed.
“This is an internal matter,” Levy said, explaining that no third parties are directly involved. The matter is being probed by Werksmans Attorneys, Crowe Forensics and Basileus Consilium Professional Services, also known as BCPS. According to BCPS’s website, the company specialises in cyber forensics.
Although he said the quantum of money involved isn’t yet known, Levy said the matter is “not material” to Blue Label and is not something that it needs to disclose to the market in the form of a stock exchange news announcement.
The investigation has been under way for “a couple of months”, with Kodesh and Lampert suspended last Tuesday. Levy said each of the businesses that sit under Ventury Group has a dedicated CEO and that trading continues uninterrupted.
Kodesh’s mobile phone was switched off when TechCentral tried to reach him on Monday for comment; Lampert’s phone also went directly to voicemail. — © 2021 NewsCentral Media
