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Retail Food Group founder Tony Alford continues to cash in his shareholding in the troubled franchising company, pocketing about $6.3 million from the latest sale announced overnight.
Alford has sold 7.5 million RFG shares since the beginning of May, coming on the heels of a series of share disposals over the past seven months.
The latest sale removes Alford from the list of substantial shareholders in the company that he headed for 20 years before resigning as CEO unexpectedly in 2016.
RFG's latest annual report lists Alford's shareholding at 19.6 million shares, or 11.1 per cent of the company's issued capital.
Based on the latest sale, Alford has more than halved his interest in the company since publication of the report in October last year.
Alford resigned as CEO of RFG in 2016 when the company's shares were trading above $4 and on an upward trajectory.
Since then, RFG's fortunes have been on a rollercoaster ride culminating most recently in allegations by franchisees that it had engaged in exploitative conduct.
The shares crashed in February following a series of damning allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct and breaches of continuous disclosure obligations, wiping more than $500 million from the company's market value.
RFG has now become the most shorted company on the ASX with its shares languishing below 80c each.
Alford has sat largely in the background of the company's fall from grace since his departure as CEO.
It is understood that he has been investing heavily in property since his departure from the company, including a $6.4 million home in Port Douglas and a $5.5 million Tamborine Mountain mansion on the Gold Coast.
Alford is no stranger to controversy. In the late 1990s, the former accountant was sued by the family of late INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence over allegations of missing millions from the rock star's estate.
Alford, who specialised in asset protection and boasted Hutchence as a client, defended the action which was later discontinued.
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Business News Australia
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