AMA issued a statement today in relation to its CEO Andrew Hopkins. The statement says: "In late September 2020, the Board received a protected disclosure from an individual employed by the company. On receipt of these allegations, the company engaged McGrath Nicol to undertake an independent forensic investigation was recently completed. 

"In the evening of 26 January 2021, Mr Hopkins made an urgent application to the Federal Court of Australia alleging that he is being oppressed as a minority shareholder. The court made a temporary order that the company may not dismiss Mr Hopkins from his employments prior to a further hearing on a date which will be fixed for some time next week.

"The company is defending the legal proceedings and will not comment further on the matter as it is before the courts."

There have been articles in the national press in previous months hinting at unconventional practices. The Financial Review wrote an article in July 2020 with the headline, AMA director Simon Moore's timing raises eyebrows which said: "On three occasions this year, he's bought shares less than a month before what the smash repairs company has deemed market-sensitive updates."

There was an article from ABC News in September 2020 with the headline JobKeeper recipients paying millions in bonuses to their executives, research reveals. The story referred to a report which said It found 81 publicly listed companies received government subsidies related to COVID-19, with 63 of those receiving JobKeeper payments. It listed those companies that had paid executives with AMA Group among them -saying the company paid $90,000 to KMPs (key management personnel, but not CEO)

Meanwhile AMA Group shares have slumped today going from .75c yesterday (26 Jan) to .634c at close today.