Joel Macdonald's GetSwift under ASIC investigation
The troubled logistics software company led by former AFL player Joel Macdonald has confirmed it is under investigation by the corporate regulator.
The investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission comes after the company confirmed last week that the majority of its customers, including the big name clients it crowed about in announcements to the stock exchange, do not pay for its services and are currently in a "pre-revenue generating phase".
GetSwift CEO and founder Joel Macdonald.
Photo: SuppliedIn many of its announcements over the past year, GetSwift had made revenue and usage forecasts for its big name clients. It never told the market when it lost these clients after a trial period.
In an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday, GetSwift said it had been "served with a notice to produce documents to ASIC".
"The company has informed ASIC that it will comply with the notice and fully cooperate so that its investigation may be completed as soon as reasonably possible," GetSwift said in its announcement.
"The ASIC notice records that it should not be construed as an indication by ASIC that a contravention of the law has occurred, nor that it should be considered a reflection upon any person or entity."
The ASIC investigation comes as the company is facing a potentially $300 million Federal Court class action being run by law firm Squire Patton Boggs on behalf of investors.
Another class action is being investigated by litigation funder Vannin Capital and law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
The action alleges Mr Macdonald and GetSwift misled and deceived investors about the status of key contracts with The Fruit Box, Fantastic Furniture and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
Vannin Capital is also investigating GetSwift's announcements regarding another "major contract" between the company and Northern American automotive marketing group N.A. Williams.
Ahead of the ASIC investigation and the class action being lodged, GetSwift spent more than three weeks with its shares suspended from trading as it worked through its disclosure issues with the ASX.
The company brought in PricewaterhouseCoopers to evaluate the veracity of its ASX announcements. That review is still ongoing.
GetSwift's shares have fallen considerably in the past week and a half since it resumed trading. Ahead of the trading halt, GetSwift's shares were trading at $2.92. It's shares closed on Tuesday at 68 cents.
The rout has slashed the value of Mr Macdonald's 22 per cent holding in the company from $120 million to less than $40 million.
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