The founder and majority shareholder of a Limerick-based multinational software development company has allegedly spent €100,000 of company money leasing homes in Dubai and China for women he had hired for the firm who had been first screened from “various illicit websites”, the High Court heard.
Karl Bohlin, who is also chief executive of multinational software group, HansaWorld, which specialises in enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management, has said his “highest priority” is finding a girlfriend.
The claims are made by the firm’s chief operations officer (COO) Jennifer Carroll who says she has been wrongly suspended as a director and as company secretary.
Ms O’Carroll, who is in her early forties and lives in Limerick, is seeking orders to restore her to those positions and to stop alleged interference in her role as COO.
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On Thursday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan granted Gary McCarthy SC, for Ms O’Carroll, permission to serve at short notice proceedings on HansaWorld Ireland Ltd, HansaWorld Holding Ltd and the ultimate Swedish parent company in which Mr Bohlin holds a 64 per cent shareholding, HansaWorld Inc Ltd. The application was made with only the O’Carroll side represented.
In an affidavit, Ms O’Carroll said in the months running up to this dispute, she had become increasingly concerned about the manner in which Mr Brohlin was managing the business. She observed what she considered to be “extravagant personal spending” using company funds.
“Since Spring, Mr Bohlin has been primarily concerned with his love life and finding a girlfriend. He has described it as his highest priority,” she said.
Mr Bohlin used the company human resources “to screen the girls from various illicit websites for suitability”.
Over recent months, she said, he has “insisted on hiring these ladies even if they are not suitable candidates” to positions in the company and insisted on using the firm’s funds to lease houses for them, including one in China and another in Dubai.
The group board had objected but he was determined to veto that because he claimed it was his entitlement as majority shareholder, she said.
His attendance at work also became very erratic and he failed to respond to staff members for weeks and months, she said. He was also having difficulties with alcohol and “describes himself as a functional alcoholic”, she said.
The cash flow within the company became a cause for concern with Ms O’Carroll and other senior staff providing loans to it “while Mr Bohlin continued to spend money lavishly on his girlfriends”, she said.
In September this year, he spent €100,000 using his company American Express card including €40,000 in a Bulgari jewellery store for the girl he had housed in Dubai. He responded to her concerns about this by saying it was “my money”, she said.
Meanwhile, she said, due to cash shortfalls employees were receiving their wages on average a week late.
She said she had a heated discussion via WhatsApp with him on September 26th in which she expressed her frustration about the ongoing situation. He replied she was “really losing your mind” and that he would have to “let her go” because “I was not following ‘orders’”, she said.
Ultimately, a mutual termination proposal was made but she was unhappy with what would be the stripping her of her “board bonus” as this was a significant element of her remuneration package.
At the beginning of October, she said Mr Bohlin took steps to oust her from the company, first suspending her as a director and then restricting her access to company bank accounts, internal records, correspondence.
Vague allegations were also made against which the court was told may be a precursor to the taking of steps to bring a disciplinary process against her for dismissal for gross misconduct.
She said there was no justification or basis for any misconduct claims against her and no performance issues had ever been raised with her.
She said news of her suspension as a director has already circulated in the close-knit section of the software industry in which she operates and she had already suffered harm to her reputation.
It was vitally important that she vindicate her good name and professional standing through these proceedings, she said.
