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The head of human resources at Mansueto Ventures, the media company behind the publishers Inc. and Fast Company, was arrested after committing financial fraud against the company, two sources told Adweek.
A representative for the company, RoseMarie Terenzio, confirmed the news.
The accused employee, Nirvani Sabess, has worked as the director of people and culture at Mansueto Ventures since 2018. She allegedly defrauded the company an amount that reached into the mid six-figures, although the company declined to offer a precise sum.
“Mansueto Ventures recently discovered that one of its former employees was allegedly committing financial fraud against the company, amounting to mid-six-figures,” Terenzio said via email.
“We immediately launched an internal investigation, then referred the matter to law enforcement and terminated the sole employee involved. As a result we are strengthening the security of all our systems.”
Mansueto Ventures declined to answer whether it has recovered the lost funds, when the fraud occurred and whether it plans to take legal action against Sabess.
Inc. and Fast Company were acquired by Mansueto Ventures, a limited liability company, in 2005. Joe Mansueto, the billionaire founder of the investment research firm Morningstar, acquired the two properties from G+J USA Publishing Company.
Inc. reports on entrepreneurship from a service journalism perspective, offering founders advice and strategies for launching and growing companies. Its annual Inc. 5,000 list chronicles the most successful companies in America, and it has averaged a reach of 16 million unique visitors per month through March, according to data from SimilarWeb.
Fast Company also reports on business, but it focuses primarily on innovation in technology, design and strategy. It produces the Most Innovative Companies List and averaged a reach of 7.9 million unique visitors per month through March, according to SimilarWeb.
