Ex-Xsolla exec sues company
Monetization and payments firm "vehemently denies" allegations it fired accounting VP for reporting violation
Xsolla is being sued by its former VP of global accounting, according to a report from Southern California news wire service CNS.
CNS says the suit was brought by Emil Aliyev, who Xsolla hired in April of this year to ensure the company was compliant with various financial rules and regulations.
A month after his hiring, Aliyev alleges he found evidence that $40 million was missing from the company's accounts, only to discover the money had been transferred to an account owned by Xsolla founder Alexander Agapitov.
Aliyev said he informed management about the money and added it was illegal for it to loan Agapitov money without charging a standard interest rate, but they took no action.
He said he did eventually have a meeting with Agapitov and the incoming CFO Ketei Marakool, and was fired three days later for an unspecified violation of company policies.
Aliyev is suing the company for wrongful termination and retaliating against a whistleblower.
Xsolla interim CEO Chris Hewish addressed the suit in a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, saying, "Xsolla vehemently denies Mr. Aliyev's wholly-unfounded allegations which are, at best, without merit. Xsolla intends to zealously defend these claims and work to fully vindicate the non-party employees wrongfully mentioned in the complaint."
He added that the suit will not impact the company's operations or financial results.