Bentley Pharmaceuticals hires ex-StockerYale CFO

Bentley Pharmaceuticals has hired former StockerYale Chief Financial Officer Richard Lindsay as its new CFO.

Lindsay will be replacing Michael Price, who resigned to pursue other opportunities closer to his new home and family in Florida.

Lindsay, who left StockerYale in October 2005, had been named as a defendant by virtue of his former position in an ongoing class action lawsuit against his former employer. A Bentley spokesperson says company officials were aware of the suit, but that Lindsay informed them that he was “named inappropriately” and dropped from the complaint.

The lawsuit accuses StockerYale CEO Mark Blodgett and his father, and board member, Lawrence Blodgett of manipulating or using insider information to cash in their shares after a misleading press release in April 2004 drove the stock price up. Mark Blodgett agreed to pay some $900,000 in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission complaint outlining similar charges in May of 2005. No allegations in the lawsuit specifically refer to Lindsey, and he was not named in the amended complaint, though he is still listed on the official federal Web site as a defendant in the consolidated case.

Lindsey also was at StockerYale during a period that was a challenging time for other reasons as well. During his tenure, the company was in the middle of a cash shortage and its stock price was so low that it received two delisting warnings from the Nasdaq, though the shortage has since eased and the stock price bounced back each time before the delisting process went any further.

“We are very excited to have Richard join our senior management team,” said John Sedor, president of Bentley in a prepared release. “He has a proven track record in public companies managing global financial functions, operations and international business development functions.”

While Bentley has yet to disclose Lindsey’s salary, Lindsey was granted some 50,000 shares of stock options worth approximately $600,000, according to an SEC filing. The options are exercisable over the next three years.
– BOB SANDERS