Dean Fighting on Two Fronts

Former Infogroup CFO Stormy Dean says he is confident he will win his claim against the database giant, which fired him last year; and refutes charges brought against him in a new SEC civil lawsuit.

Dean latterly served as EVP and General Manager of ORC parent Infogroup, where he had worked for the previous 14 years. Prior to his, he had been Chief Finance Officer during the time that founder Vin Gupta was found guilty of misspending millions of corporate funds.

In response to his sacking in October, Dean filed a claim for about $1.15m for severance and bonuses he says Infogroup refuses to pay him.

Earlier this week, Gupta agreed to pay $7.3m to settle federal regulators' charges that he improperly used nearly $9.5m of company money.

Separately, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has filed civil lawsuits against the firm's former Chief Financial Officers Dean and Rajnish Das, whom it accuses of having 'rubber stamped' Gupta's illegal spending sprees.

In a press release, Dean says the SEC believes he should have reported Gupta's spending sprees to the Infogroup directors, but claims that this had not been possible as everyone at the group 'deferred to Gupta'.

Earlier this month, ORC agreed to be acquired by affiliates of CCMP Capital Advisors for a total of around $635 million, including refinanced debt. The deal is currently being challenged by a shareholder lawsuit, which alleges that the Board used 'an unfair process' to sell the firm at an 'unfair price'.

Web site: www.infogroup.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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