A top Chinese drone maker said on Monday that it has fired some of its employees after uncovering fraud cases that could cost the company tens of millions of dollars.
DJI, the world’s biggest producer of consumer drones, said in a statement that an internal investigation found employees had “inflated the cost of parts and materials for certain products for personal financial gain”, CNN reported.
The incident raises questions about the financial management of one of China’s best known technology firms, which sells drones worth billions of dollars around the world each year.
The company also said that it would strengthen its internal controls and establish “new channels for employees to submit confidential and anonymous reports relating to any violations of the company’s workplace conduct policies” in the aftermath of the incident.
Reports put the number of employees it fired at 29 and the size of the potential losses from the fraud at $150 million.
DJI, which employs around 14,000 people, became one of China’s most successful home-grown technology companies by pioneering the global market for consumer drones.
CEO Frank Wang, who founded the start-up in 2006 while studying at a university in Hong Kong, was named the first “drone billionaire” by Forbes.