Last November Former GroupM executive Richard Foster filed suit against the company, alleging he had been wrongfully terminated for exposing what he said was an unlawful rebate scheme whereby the company was secretly pocketing millions in rebates that belonged to clients.  

Now Foster has filed an amended complaint that details a separate investigation by one of those clients—Sony Pictures. According to Foster that probe found that in 2023 in China and likely elsewhere, GroupM (now known as WPP Media) illicitly pocketed rebates belonging to clients. In the case of China, approximately $110 million was passed to the Clients, while $350 million was wrongfully retained by WPP.  

That probe followed an investigation by Chinese authorities that began in 2023 that alleged "rebate mismanagement" by several GroupM China employees.  

That Chinese government probe culminated last month when Di Fei, the former chief investment officer at the China operations of WPP Media received a life sentence after being convicted earlier this year for his part in a bribery/kickback scandal stemming from that probe.  Several other employees were also convicted and received lighter sentences. Fei is said to be appealing and WPP stressed that the company itself was not a party to the investigation and had cooperated fully throughout it. 

The separate probe by Sony as detailed in the amended Foster complaint alleges that the rebates pocketed by WPP were hidden as part of an elaborate scheme that mixed principal trading funds with a rebate pool which were then sold back to clients.   

"Sony representatives identified Proprietary Media (referred to as “PM/Programmatic”) as a primary mechanism for Rebate distribution, wherein the purported 'discount' WPP offers Clients on Inventory is manipulated: WPP pays a fraction of the out-of-pocket cost to acquire the Inventory, subsidizes the remaining balance using funds from the Rebate pool, and pockets the resulting margin as near pure profit shielded from audits," states Foster's amended complaint.  

The complaint adds, " Although deployed in China, the scheme proliferated across other markets, serving as a lever to artificially inflate earnings at WPP."  

According to Foster, "Sony supported its findings with contractual language regarding Rebate policies, transaction-level financial reporting, internal emails regarding Rebate amounts, and documentation of WPP tracking systems. This evidence demonstrates how WPP was able to retain the Rebate pool funds and distribute to WPP through these various mechanisms."  

Foster's complaint also asserts that "When Sony presented evidence that the 80% discounts offered on media are funded with the money from unpublished, 'black box' Rebates, the WPP representatives said they had no answer to give them, because they did not want to 'know the answer.'  

The complaint alleges that executives within the company agreed with Foster that GroupM/WPP Media's rebate policies were in some cases illegal and unsustainable. Those executives, per the complaint included Nicola McCormick, general counsel at WPP who previously was general counsel at GroupM. "When Foster asked McCormick directly about the risk posed by GroupM Trading’s Rebate practices, she characterized it as 'existential,' Foster's amended complaint states.  

The amended complaint in New York State Supreme Court, comes shortly before a hearing is scheduled on WPP's motion to dismiss the case.  Foster is seeking $100 million in damages.  

A WPP spokesperson issued a statement: "This amended complaint, filed just prior to the hearing, is an attempt to avoid its dismissal. Both complaints are baseless and without merit, and WPP will be re-filing an updated motion to dismiss. We have confidence that this matter will be resolved through due legal process."