AFR.L Share News (AFR)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Afren PLC Thursday said it has temporarily suspended associate directors Iain Wright and Galib Virani, as its probe into alleged unauthorised payments that potentially benefited company officials continued.

The company suspended Chief Executive Osman Shahenshah and Chief Operating Officer Shahid Ullah in late July pending an investigation into alleged evidence of unauthorised payments that were potentially for the benefit of those executives.

In its statement Thursday, the oil and gas explorer and producer said that during a review into the matter by law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP, Wright and Virani made the Afren board aware that they have received payments which are linked to the previously identified unauthorised payments for the benefit of the CEO and COO. The payments were not made by Afren, it said.

"No conclusive findings have yet been reached and the investigation is ongoing. The investigation has not found any evidence that any Board members, other than Osman Shahenshah and Shahid Ullah, were involved," it added in a statement.

Afren said it still thinks the matter won't affect its financial position or its operations. It said it will update the market in due course.

The company is having a difficult year. Earlier this month, it had to suspend operations at the Barda Rash field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq due to the heightened security tensions in the area.

Non-executive Chairman Egbert Imomoh agreed to become executive chairman and the board appointed Senior Independent Director Toby Hayward as interim CEO while the alleged payments investigation continues.

Afren shares were down 2.6% at 107.6 pence Thursday morning, one of the biggest declines in the FTSE 250.

Virani and Wright are Afren's only associate directors. Virani joined the company in 2006 after a career in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions in the City of London, while Wright joined in 2008 after over 25 years in the energy sector with the likes of Randall & Dewey, Baker Hughes, Qatar Petroleum, Conoco (UK) and Anadrill Schlumberger.

By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @SteveMcGrath1

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