Fuji Xerox New Zealand managing director Gavin Pollard has suddenly left the company after an independent investigation found that incomes at FX ANZ subsidiaries had been inflated by $450 million.
The company announced the move in a brief statement yesterday.
The president and chief executive of Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific, Isamu Sekine, will become interim MD at the New Zealand unit of the Japanese printing giant until a successor is appointed.
UK-born Pollard became FXNZ MD in April 2015, succeeding Neil Whittaker, who had been promoted to the role of managing director at Fuji Xerox Australia.
Pollard joined Fuji Xerox NZ in 2002 and “rapidly established himself as one of the country’s top sales performers,” according to an executive profile on the company’s website. “Under Gavin’s leadership, the company has enjoyed record market share gains.”
An independent investigation ordered earlier this year by parent Fujifilm Holdings identified a “sales at any cost” culture at the Australasian subsidiaries and revealed that Whittaker had been paid more than a million dollars to leave FXA after the discovery of “accounting irregularities.”
Four executives at Fuji Xerox headquarters in Japan, including the chairman, also stepped down following the investigation.
Sekine was in Sydney this week with Fuji Xerox global president Hiroshi Kurihara to meet with 400 FXA staff members and outline strict new rules related to leasing contracts and sales incentives “to ensure the company adheres to the highest standards of corporate governance.”
Kurihara said the company was considering legal action against those responsible for “inappropriate” accounting practices.