Vape maker Chill Brands says executives transferred its domain to themselves
10/06/2024 08:32
June 10 (Reuters) - Vape maker Chill Brands CHLL.L
said on Monday that Chief Commercial Officer Antonio Russo and
Chief Operating Officer Trevor Taylor had transferred the
registration of its Chill.com domain to themselves in May, in
the latest setback for the British company.
The firm's newly-formed board has also started an
investigation into whether advisers appointed by Russo and
Taylor assisted them in their actions to allegedly defraud the
business.
The duo had taken executive management control over the
company and its units until June 4, after CEO Callum Sommerton
was suspended in April after allegations around his use of
inside information.
"These activities appear to have culminated in the transfer
of the domain's registration to an account seemingly held and
operated by Antonio Russo," the company's new board, which is
chaired by Harry Chathli, said.
The company has initiated actions to recover the ownership
of the domain, it said.
Top shareholder Jonathan Mark Swann in April had called for
Russo and Taylor to be removed as directors of Chill Brands and
for Chathli to be appointed as a director. The two were removed
as directors on June 4, when a new board was appointed.
Chill Brands' board also said it has discovered that
payments totalling nearly $400,000 were made from the bank
account of the group's U.S. subsidiary to Russo and Taylor's
personal U.S. bank accounts on June 3.
The board is seeking an explanation from Taylor and Russo
for these payments and "the recovery of these funds through all
legal means available," it said.
Russo and Taylor did not immediately respond to Reuters'
requests for comment via the social media network LinkedIn. They
list themselves as co-founders of Chill.com, according to their
LinkedIn profiles.
While the investigations are ongoing, the company was unable
to provide a trading update or seek a restoration of trading of
its shares.
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank
Dhaniwala)
((Yadarisa.Shabong@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9742735150;))