Big Technologies board made ‘outrageous allegations’ about me, says ousted founder
The founder of a London-listed tech firm has hit back after she was ousted by her own board, describing misconduct allegations levelled against her as “outrageous.”
In a rare public intervention following her dismissal from Big Technologies earlier this year, Sara Murray told CityAM she felt shareholders “are just fed up with the decisions this board is making” adding that company execs have “tried to create trouble wherever they can.”
“The latest set of allegations are really extraordinary, wide ranging and extraordinary and I believe that the company believes that some of the allegations they are making is untrue,” Murray said.
“The most traumatic for me is the damage that’s being done to the company. My commitment has always been to shareholders to build and grow a company.”
Murray was dismissed from Big Technologies at the end of March after the firm accused her of concealing her beneficial ownership in the business, as well as forging documents relating to a share restructure which took place prior to the company’s IPO in 2021.
‘Falsified documents’
Big’s board said it asked Murray on multiple occasions whether there was a connection between her and a series of offshore trusts which together controlled around two-fifths of the company’s share capital prior to the AIM flotation.
“Ms Murray denied any connection at any time prior to her dismissal, and it was not declared to the Takeover Panel or in the AIM Admission Document at the time of the IPO,” Big said in a statement.
Murray denies that she had control over the offshore vehicles.
“I don’t own or control any of those companies. I’ve never said I’m not connected to them, I do have connections to them,” She told CityAM.
“Those companies are owned by a family trust which my father set up and I was pretty much estranged from my father – I’ve seen him twice in 20 years so the detail of that is still coming out but they’re certainly not my companies.”
Murray said she “wasn’t aware of the structure of how all that worked” adding that she was “truly shocked” by the board’s behaviour, suggesting that at “every possible place they can look for trouble they have looked for it.”
She denied forging documents, referring to the accusation as “a whole heap of false allegations by the company against me.”
In a statement, Big Technologies said: “The Board is confident in the compelling evidence that has been uncovered which shows that Sara Murray created or otherwise forged or deliberately falsified documents more than three years after the dates of their supposed issue.”
Murray, Big Technologies and the offshore trusts are now gearing up for an intense legal battle to establish the extent of any possible wrongdoing.
Murray said the company had ceased all communication with her after she was removed as chief executive but declined to comment on whether she planned to make a return to the helm.
“The Company could not simply overlook Ms Murray’s wrongdoing,” Big said, adding it was “willing to explore the settlement of the dispute so that all parties can move forward.”
“It’s really important that it gets sorted out one way or another,” Murray said.