Eke Urum, the embattled Founder and past CEO of fintech startup Risevest, has been found guilty of sexual impropriety, abuse of power and workplace bullying following a six-week investigation into complaints of sexual abuse levelled at him.
The Quest Times reports that following the allegations in August, Urum was asked to step aside as CEO by investors, pending the outcome of an investigation.
“Following allegations of sexual and non-sexual impropriety from someone who can be reasonably expected to have knowledge of such, investors of Risevest have asked Eke Urum to step aside from his role as founder and CEO and an independent investigation is ongoing,” an earlier statement reads.
Following six weeks of investigations, the panel in a statement disclosed that the evidence presented couldn’t prove sexual abuse, but Urum was found guilty of sexual impropriety, bullying, and abuse of power amongst others.
“The evidence presented to the panel could not prove sexual assault by Eke Urum. However, the evidence presented to the panel including admitted sexual relations with an employee and unwanted, inappropriate jokes and conversations revealed sexual impropriety. It also showed a pattern of abuse of power, intimidation, retaliation and workplace bullying by him,” the statement reads.
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Following the panel’s findings, Urum will remain frozen out as CEO, as Tony Odiba who replaced the founder in an acting capacity, will continue to hold the reins at Risevest until a newly constituted board appoints a new CEO.
Urum will move into a non-executive member role of the new board and will lead the startup’s investment strategy and provide guidance on technology.
“As a leader, I have grown a lot over the years and still have a lot of growing to do, which is why I’m going to be taking additional coaching and executive training,” Urum told TechCabal in response to the findings of the investigation.
“I regret the distraction that my actions may have caused and fully respect the integrity of the process the Risevest investors and the panel underwent to identify the gaps in our systems and my leadership,” he added.