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The police have launched an investigation into claims of stalking of several executives of Boohoo, the online fast-fashion retailer, over the past few months.
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office also confirmed on Wednesday that it had received a complaint from Boohoo that surveillance equipment was discovered outside the head office of the Manchester-based retailer. The identity of the alleged perpetrators is unknown.
Police are probing whether stalking offences were committed that targeted Dan Finley, Boohoo’s chief executive, John Lyttle, its former boss, and co-founder Mahmud Kamani, the Times first reported.
Boohoo Group confirmed the police investigation and declined to comment further.
Kent Police said on Wednesday that it was investigating reported stalking offences, including at locations within the Sevenoaks area, adding that inquiries were ongoing and there have been no arrests.
Greater Manchester Police said: “An investigation is ongoing around stalking involving serious alarm/distress with no arrests made at this stage.”
Boohoo is separately embroiled in a bitter battle with its largest shareholder, Frasers Group — of which sportswear tycoon Mike Ashley owns 73 per cent — over the performance of the business and the composition of its board.
Aim-listed Boohoo’s shares have lost more than 90 per cent of their value since their peak in June 2020, when the retailer was buoyed by a boom in online shopping during the pandemic. Shares in Frasers have more than doubled over the same period.
Frasers has claimed Boohoo was being “mismanaged” and criticised a recent £222mn refinancing, calling it a “catastrophe”. The group, known for Sports Direct, last month also demanded that Kamani “must go” as executive chair.
Boohoo announced that Kamani had been moved from executive chair to executive vice-chair on the same day that Frasers made its latest demands.
It has urged shareholders to vote against Frasers’ wishes to appoint Ashley as a director at an upcoming meeting with investors on December 20, saying the sportswear tycoon is “not suitable” for such a role.
