Fortescue Metals Group Ltd’s
(ASX:FMG) founder and CEO Andrew Forrest will fight the court ruling that says he mislead investors.
The iron ore mining company says it will appeal a Federal Court judgement that claims Mr Forrest made misleading claims about binding agreements with Chinese groups, to build infrastructure in 2004.
On Friday the full bench of the Federal Court upheld financial regulator ASIC’s decision to disqualify Mr Forrest as a director.
The decision could potentially ban Mr Forrest from running Fortescue, and hit the company with fines of up to $10 million.
Yesterday Mr Forrest told media in Perth that regulators had pursued the case in a mean and vengeful way, despite no public complaints having been lodged, and that he will seek leave to fight the decision.
On Monday shares in Fortescue fell 2.47 per cent to close at $6.71.
At the end of last week Fortescue reported a seven-fold jump in its first half-year earnings, booking a net profit of $309 million in the six months to 31 December, 2010.
