Cambridge Analytica’s former CEO, Alexander Nix, has reportedly been accused by investors of embezzling $8 million dollars from the company prior to the company shutdown that followed its Facebook scandal. As of this writing, the accusation appears to be limited to an internal dispute and no charges seem to have been filed. However, that doesn’t necessarily remove from the seriousness of the alleged accusations. The money that was allegedly withdrawn by Nix is said to have been part of the $19 million in funding raised by Emerdata and the SCL group back in January in a bid to relaunch under different branding. More precisely, the theft is said to have occurred before the company went under but after investigations had been started into the company’s activities.
For Nix’s part, the former executive is said to be claiming that the money was owed to him in part for “unbooked services.” He allegedly also indicated that he would be paying a portion of it back but has not responded to media requests for comment on the matter. For now, it doesn’t appear as though Nix has any intention of returning any money, according to the sources. A substantial number of Cambridge Analytica’s employees have been let go without pay. Moreover, the firm reportedly has further bills owed to advertisers and other suppliers still left unpaid as a result of the withdrawal.
Meanwhile, Nix was set to appear before the U.K.’s Parliament today and will likely appear before several other legislative sessions to account for his part in the scandals which still plague the now-defunct company. The company itself, of course, is still under investigations related to both its involvement in the collection of data from Facebook and its handling of finances. Despite the new alleged accusations appearing to be under the latter of those investigations, they are unlikely to come up in the near future. That’s likely to remain the case unless the investors involved in the dispute come forward. Conversely, if there is any weight to the allegations, the FBI or Department of Justice will likely discover a reason to bring up Nix’s withdrawal and address it then.