Lugano’s Founder and Chief Executive Moti Ferder has resigned amid an internal probe of the Newport Beach-based luxury jewelry company.
President Josh Gaynor has been appointed as interim CEO and will work with Lugano Chief Financial Officer Christoph Pachler to take over the former executive’s responsibilities.
Ferder’s exit, effective May 7, follows the reveal of an ongoing internal investigation into the luxury jeweler based over “concerns about how Lugano was potentially financing inventory,” reported by parent company Compass Diversified (NYSE: CODI) on Wednesday. The operator owns approximately 60% of Lugano.
The investigation “has preliminarily identified irregularities in Lugano’s non-CODI financing, accounting, and inventory practices,” the company said. Compass disclosed non-reliance on its financial statements for fiscal 2024 and will also delay the filing of its first quarter 2025 Form 10-Q.
Ferder will not receive any severance compensation upon his departure. His wife Idit Ferder is co-founder and chief operating officer.
The investigation does not affect any other subsidiaries under Compass, which includes Costa Mesa-based retailer 5.11.
“The company’s manager and its employees reacted swiftly and decisively in response to a concern regarding Lugano, elevating it immediately to our Audit Committee,” Compass Chairman Larry Enterline said in a statement.
“Our priority is to support the Audit Committee’s investigation and to fully understand what happened,” Compass CEO Elias Sabo said.
