Brian Wesson, the former CEO of Otso Gold, has been detained in Finland and is under investigation by law enforcement authorities in that country, the TSX-V-listed company said on Wednesday.
Wesson is the MD of management services company Lionsbridge Capital, which until recently were retained by the company to manage the Otso gold mine, in Finland.
He resigned from Otso Gold on November 30, after representatives of the board, together with Alvarez & Marsal, which is currently providing chief restructuring and chief financial officer services to the company, informed him that they were on their way to the mine site. Clyde Wesson, formerly a VP and a director of Otso, also resigned at this time.
Otso said that Alvarez & Marsal was seeking to ascertain the whereabouts of certain computer devices, files and property that appeared to have been taken from the company at the same time as the resignations.
Alvarez & Marsal was also investigating certain issues and discrepancies relating to the company's financial transactions and records, Otso said.
Wesson was apparently apprehended on November 30, and he reportedly remains in pre-trial custody under criminal suspicion of aggravated embezzlement and payment fraud.
"The criminal suspicions facing Mr Wesson are extremely serious. We are grateful to the Finnish authorities for the speed of their response and we will continue to assist law enforcement in their investigation,” an Otso press release quotes an unnamed company spokesperson as saying.
Under Finnish law, all pre-investigation material and information is confidential and the precise details of the charges Wesson is facing have not been disclosed publicly.