Dean Janes, the founder, chairman, and CEO of 3D imaging device developer Imaging3, has stepped down as a U.S. government investigation into the company's financial reporting continues.
Janes' departure was announced on December 9 in an 8K form filed on the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) website run by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Dane Medley has replaced Janes.
In a letter to Imaging3 investors, Medley said that Janes left the firm "to provide the company a better opportunity to move forward with new leadership." The SEC in June 2013 filed a lawsuit against Imaging3 and Janes, charging the company with fraud for allegedly misleading shareholders about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s view of the company's medical device.
The FDA three times has denied clearance to Imaging3 for its Dominion volumetric imaging scanner, citing concerns about image quality and product safety; in a November 2010 call with investors, Janes allegedly said the issues with the FDA were mostly "administrative."
In the December 9 letter, Medley pointed out that Imaging3 emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2013, and the company has been working to catch up on its financial reporting obligations for 10Q reports for 2012 and 2013, as well as its 10K for 2012. The company's attempt to achieve a new trading symbol has been complicated by the ongoing SEC lawsuit, the letter noted.
