Ram Ottapathu: Embattled Choppies founder reckons he’ll be proven right

Ram Ottapathu, founder of Botswana's leading retailer Choppies, has been under heavy attack of late after a forensic and legal audit into the JSE-listed company accused him of malfeasance. But Ottapathu admits that although governance was slack, no money is missing and no fraud was committed. He intends setting the record straight and getting the suspension of the shares lifted soon after the EGM called for 4 September. Apologies for the poor sound quality. – Alec Hogg

Ram Ottapathu said Choppies had a lot of issues in the development and performance of the company and he and his board did not have the same vision for taking the company forward. He said he believed that if a company took collective responsibility, you could say that only the CEO was responsible. Ottapathu said he took most of the blame, but said investors should wait for the EGM to find out whether the forensic investigation has any merit. He said "there was no fraud or misappropriation" and that he believed that some of the reports on Choppies were questionable and not completely legal. He said some of them would be completely reversed.

Referring to the forensic report, Ottapathu said it was "prepared by board members and staff"; it was not a legal report and it is questionable. He said he read it three times and it is inconclusive. It will be challenged and he believed it would be set aside "straight away. He said he answered every point on the legal report. He described it as a storm in a teacup.

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