Dimension Data has taken legal action against its former bosses for allegedly swindling the company of funds for personal financial gain.
In a statement, the company says following extensive investigation by Dimension Data and its mother company, NTT, it has instituted legal and court proceedings against the actions of former executives and associated parties over the non-disclosure of their personal financial interests in the sale of The Campus – the group’s business office park in Bryanston, Johannesburg.
Last January Dimension Data flagged a potential conflict of interest among its top executives regarding the sale of its upmarket office park in 2019.
According to the systems integrator, The Campus was sold to Property Co (Identity Propco), a majority black women-owned company, led by Sonja De Bruyn, as part of a significant B-BBEE transaction.
It notes De Bruyn was a long-standing director of Dimension Data at the time. On 21 May 2021, De Bruyn and all other non-executive directors stepped down when Dimension Data aligned its governance structures to that of NTT, it adds.
De Bruyn is the co-founder of Identity Partners, a black women-owned and managed investment firm, with businesses in corporate finance, fund management, mining and resources.
While De Bruyn was initially not implicated in the matter, she has now been named among the associated party representatives who will face legal action.
Dimension Data says in the statement that "an extensive investigation has been undertaken regarding the sale of Dimension Data’s Campus property in Johannesburg, South Africa, revealing that certain former senior executives ... did not disclose their personal financial interest in the transaction and wrongfully induced the conclusion of the transaction".
“This is in breach of the law and company policy. Evidence points to the former executives having defrauded Dimension Data. In addition, the investigation revealed that the purchaser of the Campus paid a secret commission to one of these former executives," the company says.
Six former senior executives are implicated:
- Jeremy Ord, Dimension Data co-founder, served as executive chairman until 2021.
- Jason Goodall, group CEO of Dimensiaon Data, 2016 - 2019.
- Grant Bodley, CEO of Dimension Data MEA, 2015 - 2021.
- Steven Nathan, former head of corporate development, Dimension Data.
- Saki Missaikos, CEO of Internet Solutions (2011 - 2019) and DiData's executive head of strategy (2019 - 2021).
- Bruce Watson, one of the founding members of Dimension Data, served on the board of directors till 2021.
Associated parties who have also been dragged to court include Identity Fund Managers, the company the office park was sold to, and its representatives, Sonja De Bruyn and Janice Johnston, as well as Martin Epstein, a property consultant.
Addressing exec exodus
In 2019, Dimension Data, which was still under then CEO Grant Bodley, said the sale of The Campus was part of a wider restructuring exercise to enable the company to focus on its core business.
At the time, the firm occupied less than 50% of The Campus – an office park in Bryanston which has housed it since 2003. However, it said it would will continue to occupy The Campus, which remains its head office.
Bodley was replaced as the company's CEO by Werner Kapp in March 2021, who was later succeeded by Alan Turnley-Jones in July 2022.
At the time of appointment, the systems integrator said Turnley-Jones is a seasoned and highly-respected strategic leader who has held various roles over his 23-year tenure at Dimension Data.
On the challenges the company has to face and overcome, he previously told ITWeb the key issue is the great resignation, also known as the war on talent.
“We’re not immune to that and so we need to put the right programmes in place to address it. We recently had some staff withdraw their resignations when they saw the opportunities that lie ahead and so I think we need to keep focusing on that."
Share