PayMongo’s former CFO: ‘I never stole from any company’

Jay Olos, the former chief financial officer of PayMongo, has spoken out for the first time about allegations surrounding his departure from the Philippine-based fintech startup in May.

In a statement posted on Linkedin, he said that there had been “no financial irregularities” as previously alleged. However, he apologized for remarks that he had made toward female colleagues.

Olos was dismissed from PayMongo largely because the firm received harassment complaints from two employees, Tech in Asia first reported last week.

PayMongo is also contending with a formal investigation that was launched by the company’s board against CEO Francis Plaza as well as a complaint filed against Plaza earlier this month for alleged harassment. These issues come at a time when the firm is under competitive and performance strain.

Speaking to Tech in Asia last week, Plaza cited another reason for Olos’ dismissal, claiming that there were “financial irregularities” on some transactions that the ex-CFO “was not able to explain fully.”

Olos has strongly refuted this in his LinkedIn statement. “In my 17 years as a finance professional, I never stole from any company that I worked for because I value integrity so much,” he said. “It’s just that some don’t understand accounting fully, the scope of work, entitlement, and obligations of the CFO ultimately to the shareholders.”

He added that governance policies and related internal control applies to “all regardless of rank and stage of an enterprise.”

Olos also shared his perspective regarding the harassment complaints.

Describing himself as a “conversationalist” by nature, he explained that the “green jokes or adult jokes” he made were a “way to build rapport” with employees in a remote-work setting and to show his “human side.”

However, the aftermath has become “a lesson learned” for Olos. “I take responsibility for it. I apologize to those people whom I have offended. Rest assured that I continue to work on improving myself on that area,” he wrote.

See also: Fallout at PayMongo: alleged harassment by CEO, founder departures, growth woes