Dimension Data accuses six former executives of fraud

Dimension Data and parent company NTT have launched legal action against six former executives and three other individuals involved in the sale of The Campus.
This comes after a whistleblower provided enough evidence to spur NTT to appoint Herbert Smith Freehills to investigate the matter a year ago.
“An extensive investigation has been undertaken regarding the sale of Dimension Data’s Campus property in Johannesburg, South Africa,” NTT said in a statement.
NTT said the investigation revealed that 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,” the company said.
“In addition, the investigation revealed that the purchaser of the Campus paid a secret commission to one of these former executives.”
NTT also named the executives implicated for the first time: Jeremy Ord, Jason Goodall, Grant Bodley, Steven Nathan, Saki Missaikos, and Bruce Watson.
Jeremy Ord (pictured) co-founded Dimension Data and served as executive chairman until 2021.
Bruce Watson joined the company in 1984, the year after it was founded.
Saki Missaikos was the executive head of strategy and former MD of Internet Solutions.
Jason Goodall was Dimension Data’s CEO before being promoted to Global Chief Executive Officer for NTT’s IT services subsidiary, NTT Ltd. He left in 2021.
Grant Bodley was the Dimension Data Middle East & Africa CEO until May 2021.
Steven Nathan was head of corporate development at Dimension Data.
“NTT Ltd. and Dimension Data place ethical leadership and governance at the heart of their business and will not tolerate any such violations at any level of the organization,” the two companies said.
“NTT Ltd. and Dimension Data await the outcome of the legal processes. At this stage, NTT Ltd. and Dimension Data will not take further questions.”
TechCentral reported that Bodley is acting as spokesperson for all six executives.
They reportedly denied the allegations, said they lack merit and look forward to presenting their defence in court.
MyBroadband could not contact the executives before publication.
“Following the investigation, NTT Ltd. and Dimension Data have instituted legal and court proceedings against the actions of former executives and associated parties,” NTT said.
In addition to the six executives, NTT said it is taking legal action against the company the property was sold to, Identity Fund Managers, and its representatives: Sonja De Bruyn and Janice Johnston.
This comes after NTT initially said De Bruyn was not implicated.
It said last year that De Bruyn was a long-standing director of Dimension Data but recused herself from matters relating to the transaction.
Johnston apparently left the company in 2022 and, according to her Linkedin page, now works in The Presidency’s Climate Finance Task Team.
NTT also said a property consultant, Martin Epstein, was implicated.
De Bruyn was not reachable by her company phone number, and MyBroadband could not reach Epstein.
However, Johnston provided detailed feedback on the matter.
“Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment regarding this as there are some factual inaccuracies that may unintentionally misrepresent the matter,” Johnston told MyBroadband.
“[Neither Sonja De Bruyn nor I] have been cited in our personal capacities in the court papers, and legal recourse is not being pursued against us as individuals,” she said.
“It should be noted that this was specifically confirmed to us by Dimension Data’s own legal counsel, Allen & Overy.”
Johnston also said the entities they previously represented are no longer involved in any way with the purchaser since 1 November 2022.
“You may not be aware that the Identity Fund Managers-related entities exited the transaction on 1 November 2022 therefore it is unfortunate that Dimension Data continues to mention them.”