Mike Ashley demands investigation into Boohoo founder's debt collecting
In a letter to Tim Morris, Boohoo's independent chairman, lawyers for Mr Ashley's Frasers Group said its founder and executive vice chairman Mahmud Kamani must be suspended 'immediately' pending the outcome of an investigation.
Lawyers at White and Case said they had sent the letter, which was also published on the London Stock Exchange, directly to Mr Morris 'due to the seriousness of the issues raised with regards to the conduct' of Mr Kamani.
The demand comes after The Telegraph last week revealed Mr Kamani's debt collection demands with one supplier, publishing angry WhatsApp messages sent by the retail tycoon.
Frasers Group, which owns Sports Direct and House of Fraser, is Boohoo's biggest shareholder in Boohoo with a 30pc stake.
Lawyers for Frasers said they were seeking 'urgent reassurance' that the revelations would be 'properly and independently investigated'.
The letter said: 'Frasers also considers that it is your responsibility, as well as that of the entire board of directors of Boohoo, to protect Boohoo and its shareholders from Mr Kamani and any of his associates who may be complicit in these matters.
'These allegations are very serious and damaging to the reputation of boohoo. If proven, it appears that Mr Kamani may have breached his duties as a director of Boohoo and could also have committed various criminal offences.'
In the messages, Mr Kamani, who retains a 12.5pc stake in Boohoo, claimed he was owed £100,000 by Anjum Majid, the father of the owner of PDQ Textiles. He instructed a middleman in its supply chain to deduct 20p per garment from payments to PDQ Textiles, a Manchester company with factories in Pakistan, in order to collect the personal debt.
In the WhatsApp conversation from 2023, Mr Kamani said: 'I want my £100k... please deduct 20p per garment from all his son's orders... with immediate effect all deliveries from today.'
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