(Alliance News) - Endeavour Mining PLC used its longstanding law firm to investigate its now ousted chief executive, despite some employees questioning its independence, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
The FT reported that some within Endeavour were concerned whether Linklaters could undertake an impartial investigation, given how much the law firm earned during its partnership with the gold miner while Sebastien de Montessus was at the helm.
A source close to Endeavour said safeguards were made to ensure the law firm's impartiality, the FT reported.
The newspaper noted that de Montessus is mulling his legal position, after a Linklaters investigation "did not uphold any of the personal conduct allegations".
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Endeavour, with assets in nations including Senegal and Burkina Faso, earlier in January said it ousted de Montessus for "serious misconduct" and with immediate effect.
The move followed an investigation into an irregular payment instruction issued by him in relation to an asset disposal undertaken by the company.
The irregular payment instruction amounted to USD5.9 million and was discovered in the course of a review of acquisitions and disposals, which is ongoing.
De Montessus responded to the allegations, saying in 2021 he had instructed a creditor to "offset an amount owed to the company to pay for essential security equipment to protect our partners and employees in a conflict zone".
This had "no additional cost to the company" and "did not benefit [him] personally in any way", he maintained.
However, de Montessus conceded that omitting to inform the board of the arrangement was "a lapse in judgement".
Separately, in October 2023 allegations were made against de Montessus through the company's confidential whistleblowing channel relating to his personal conduct with colleagues.
Following an external investigation, the board had received the findings and, at the point of termination, said it was considering the appropriate course of action.
De Montessus added: "This week I was given 48 hours' notice of the concerns and no proper opportunity to answer them. As to the other investigation: no misconduct of any kind was discovered because none occurred. I am proud of what we have built together at Endeavour over the past 8 years. I will take my time to consider my position with my advisers."
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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Endeavour Mining (EDV)