Gerasimos Bonanos: Globo’s last executive throws in the towel

The resignation of the Greek software firm’s chief operating officer followed the departures in October of its chief executive and chief financial officer

Byron Kokkalanis, sponsored by Globo, competing in Santander, Spain, in 2014 (Getty)

The last remaining executive at Globo has jumped ship in the latest chapter of the AIM fraud story.

The resignation of the Greek software firm’s chief operating officer, Gerasimos Bonanos, followed the departures in October of chief executive Costis Papadimitrakopoulos and chief financial officer Dimitris Gryparis.

They both stepped down at an emergency board meeting at the end of the month after admitting there had been “falsification of data and the misrepresentation of the company’s financial situation”.

Globo's chief executive Costis Papadimitrakopoulos quit after admitting to “the falsification of data and the misrepresentation of the company’s financial situation”

The meeting had been called to come up with ways of defending itself against claims made by the US hedge fund and short-seller Quintessential Capital Management, which alleged Globo had made up clients and falsely inflated revenues and profits.

The company revealed that Mr Papadimitrakopoulos had failed to disclose the sale of 42 million shares up to 22 October, worth £12.4m at the time the shares were suspended.

Globo, which has been placed in the hands of the administrators after defaulting on its loan agreements with Barclays, is under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Elsewhere, it emerged that a group of small Globo shareholders is considering legal action in an attempt to claw back losses amassed as part of the scandal.

The private investor organisation ShareSoc said more than 200 shareholders had already joined its campaign.

ShareSoc’s deputy chairman, Roger Lawson, said: “Although the problems in this case may well be exceptional, there have been numerous defaults and delistings by AIM companies of late. And failures by auditors to discover mismanagement still happen on a regular basis.”