On Wednesday May 11, the pharmaceutical giant announced that its chief
financial officer, Jorge Gomez (photo), departed the company "effective
immediately," following a disclosure by his former employer that it is
investigating financial misreporting.
Gomez formally began his role on Monday May 9, a month after leaving his
role as CFO at the dentistry manufacturer, Dentsply Sirona. Despite his early
departure, he will still receive his annual salary of $700,000 as part of his
severance package. He will, however, forfeit his $500,000 signing bonus.
It is extremely rare for an executive to leave a firm within such a
short period. Listed firms go to great lengths to properly vet candidates, as
part of their due diligence. The process can take many months and usually
involves background checks. The nature of Gomez's departure poses questions
over how rigorously this process was performed.
Moderna was made aware of the internal investigation, following
Dentsply's disclosure, made in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) on Tuesday.
In March 2022, Dentsply's board of directors began an investigation into
allegations surrounding the financial reporting of the use of incentives to
sell its products, as well as the disclosure of the incentives on sales,
according to the filing. The audit committee is also investigating
"former and current members of senior management" over allegations
that they used these incentives to affect executive compensation.
The investigation does not name Gomez specifically. In April Dentsply
terminated its former CEO Donald Casey and removed him from the board, but did
not disclose why.
Gomez's predecessor, David Meline, will resume his position while the
firm searches for a replacement.
From Business Insider
