Ousted: Former Endeavour boss Sebastien de Montessus
An investigation into the sacked boss of Endeavour Mining has discovered two more ‘deliberately disguised’ payments worth an estimated £12million.
Sebastien de Montessus was ousted in January after the London-listed gold firm said the Frenchman made an ‘irregular payment’ of £4million without reporting it to the board.
The Canadian group’s shares fell sharply, sparking its demotion from the FTSE 100 last month.
Yesterday, the miner said de Montessus and others ‘caused’ it to make two more payments in 2020, totalling £12million, to a third party which received the £4million.
Endeavour was unable to work out who the ultimate beneficiary was but said the money was handed to an entity in the UAE.
It did not find evidence of ‘bribery, or payments to sanctioned persons or to terrorist groups’.
De Montessus, 49, was one of the FTSE 100’s highest-paid bosses.
In 2021, he earned £18.8million for shifting its primary listing from Canada to London.
In January, the company said it had become aware of de Montessus’s alleged misconduct and would reclaim £23million of his pay.
Endeavour shares rose 5.3 per cent after falling over a third this year.
De Montessus said: ‘I co-operated fully with the investigation and am extremely disappointed I have once again been denied the opportunity to respond to allegations before they have been published.
$15million was advanced to an established contractor, Endeavour did not suffer any loss and it did not benefit me.
‘I understand those sums were properly offset against invoices from that contractor.’
