PayMongo’s former CFO Jay Olos
Jay Olos, who was ousted as the CFO of Y Combinator-backed PayMongo in May 2022, dismissed the allegations of financial irregularities and employee harassment against him, saying he never stole money from the fintech firm.
In a LinkedIn post, Olos, however, apologised for his remarks against female employees.
“Few days ago, my name was mentioned in an article which reported my departure from PayMongo some months ago. Several people reached out to ask about it and check if I am OK. I am OK guys. Still fighting albeit silently and away from spotlight. Though to be honest, it’s taking a toll on my mental health (sic),” he said in the post.
There are no financial irregularities, he added. It’s just that some don’t understand accounting, the scope of work, entitlement, and a CFO’s obligations to the shareholders. Also, governance policies and related internal control apply to all staffers regardless of their ranks and the stage of the business. “In my 17 years as a finance professional, I never stole from any company that I worked for because I value integrity so much.”
Also Read: Tinder founder’s JAM Fund invests in PayMongo’s US$31M Series B financing round
Regarding the allegations of harassment, he noted that he is a conversationalist, talks a lot and can be tactless at times. He asks a lot of questions, gives inputs and insights and jokes and makes fun of himself. “Sometimes, included in those jokes are green jokes or adult jokes that I only blurt for those people whom I think I am close to. It’s my way to build rapport in a remote work setting and to show the human side of me (as a finance guy, I am tough they say). Unfortunately, I learned that some female colleagues found it not funny particularly in a WFH set-up when calls and chats are subject to interpretation. A lesson learned for me, and I take responsibility for it. I apologise to those people whom I have offended. Rest assured that I continue to work on improving myself on that area (sic).”
Olos said he respects the privacy and confidentiality of the ongoing investigation at PayMongo.
PayMongo was recently in the spotlight when TechInAsia published a story about various issues in the company, including the fallout among top leaders, the firing of two co-founders, and allegations of questionable spending by co-founders and employee harassment. As per the TiA report, Co-Founder and CEO Francis Plaza allegedly splurged money on extensive trips to Europe and the US and bought a luxury Porsche car. Some of his business class flight trips and a company loan taken to finance a property rental in the Philippines are also under ongoing investigation.
The PayMongo board, chaired by co-founder Luis Sia, has opened a formal investigation against Plaza, who is also a board member.
Founded in 2019 by Plaza, Luis Sia, Jaime Hing, and Edwin Lacierda, PayMongo empowers online businesses to accept the full range of payment options, including credit cards, e-wallets, and over-the-counter payments. It provides an easy-to-integrate PayMongo API and e-commerce plugins.
The PayMongo founding team
In addition, PayMongo Links and Pages products enable businesses to provide a simple digital checkout for their customers, even without a website.
Though the startup caters to businesses of all sizes, it emphasizes underserved small (and micro) and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (account for 99 per cent of businesses in the Philippines).
In February this year, PayMongo secured US$31 million in a Series B round of financing from investors, including JAM Fund (founded by Tinder founder Justin Mateen) and local VCs ICCP-SBI Venture Partners and Kaya Founders. Previously, the fintech firm bagged US$12 million Series A led by Stripe in 2020 and US$2.7 million seed round from investors, including Y Combinator, in 2019.
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