Aussie tech firm’s crash ‘one of the worst’

Dubber was founded in Melbourne in 2011. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Blair Jackson

A Melbourne tech firm in the midst of investigating where a missing $30mn went has resumed trading from a six-week hiatus to plummet to its lowest share price in 10 years.

Cloud-based telco call recording firm Dubber has been rocked in recent months, as its co-founder and chief executive was stood down and then sacked after $30m in a third-party term deposit went missing.

The company went into a trading halt in late February at $0.135. The stock resumed trading on Wednesday but closed at $0.061.

The drop represents about $42.3m being wiped from the company’s value.

The share price of Dubber (ASX:DUB) dropped more than 50 per cent on Wednesday when it resumed trading from a six-week halt. Picture: ASX

Sky News business editor Ross Greenwood called it “one of the worst share price falls in the history of the ASX”.

Issues at Dubber emerged when an audit found $30m supposedly being held by Christopher William Legal in a term deposit was missing. Dubber chief executive and co-founder Steve McGovern was then suspended.

Founder and chief executive of Melbourne call recording software company Dubber, Steve McGovern, was sacked as ASIC investigates whether he and a third-party trustee misused $30m of Dubber's money. Picture: LinkedIn

Last month, Dubber told the ASX that about $3.4m had been recovered, with $26.6m outstanding.

“From the investigation conducted to date, it is alleged that Mr McGovern and the trustee were likely involved in the unauthorised use of those funds, including for purposes which were not for the company’s benefit,” the company announced last week as it sacked Mr McGovern.

ASIC and Dubber are running their own investigations.

Cloud-based call recording platform for the financial services industry, Dubber, has seen one of the “worst share price falls in the history of the ASX,” says Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood. He said while it is not uncommon for a company to fall 70 per cent in a year, Dubber lost 70 per cent in a day. “Dubber shares haven't traded for six weeks," he said. “It raised $24 million from shareholders at just five cents apiece - 77 per cent lower than they're previous price. The shares resumed trading today … and immediately they collapsed. “Thorney Technologies, led by investor Alex Waislitz, owns almost 20 per cent of the company and supported the capital raising.”

The financial regulator sought, and the courts granted, a ban on Mr McGovern and Christopher William Legal principal Mark Madafferi from leaving the country.

Mr Madafferi’s legal representatives declined to comment. Mr McGovern’s counsel did not respond.

Dubber’s share price had risen about 13 per cent to $0.069 halfway through trading on Thursday.