Jonathan Lock , one of three Chemours Co. executives at the center of a financial investigation, has officially resigned as chief financial officer.
His departure comes about a month after CEO Mark Newman entered a separation and release agreement with the Wilmington, Del.-based company.
Chemours filed a report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission April 23 acknowledging the resignation.
Newman, Lock and Controller Camela Wisel were placed on administrative leave in late February following a call from a whistleblower that prompted an audit.
A company investigation showed the three executives had delayed making payments to suppliers, while at the same time accelerating payments from customers. The executives took these steps to meet goals that increased their compensation.
In total, the three executives delayed or accelerated payments totaling about $575 million in late 2022, early 2023, late 2023 and early 2024, according to a company news release.
Lock joined Chemours in 2018 and had been CFO since June 2023. Like Newman, he had previous experience at Sun Coke Energy. The review that led to the actions against the three officials involved an anonymous report made to the Chemours ethics hotline.
Denise Digman was named interim CEO in late February, and that move was made permanent on March 22. Dignam joined Chemours in 2015 and had served as president of the firm's Titanium Technologies unit since March 2023.
Chemours is a supplier of titanium dioxide, a common plastics whitener, as well as fluoropolymers and fluoroelastomers. The firm posted sales of a little more than $6 billion in 2023, down 11 percent vs. 2022, while showing a loss of $237 million. The firm had shown a profit of $578 million in 2022.
Chemours' financial loss for 2023 includes pretax litigation settlements and restructuring, asset-related charges and other charges. In 2023, it agreed to pay $592 million to U.S. water suppliers for issues related to PFAS chemicals. Chemours also has agreed to pay $55 million to the state of Ohio for similar issues.