Cryptomine and AI data center Mawson Infrastructure Group is experiencing trouble at the boardroom level, firing its CEO and filing a fraud claim against him.

On July 8, Mawson’s board of directors provided former CEO Rahul Mewawalla with notice of termination of his employment as chief executive officer and president of the company.

Mawson’s general counsel and corporate secretary, Kaliste Saloom, has been named interim CEO ahead of the company’s next annual stockholders meeting on October 15.

On the same day, Mawson filed a complaint against Mewawalla, seeking to recover damages for an alleged breach of fiduciary duties during his time as director, as well as alleged fraud. The case, Mawson Infrastructure Group Inc. v. Rahul Mewawalla, has been filed in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.

The company said that in connection with his termination, Mewawalla will forfeit his outstanding equity award of 4,548,512 unvested restricted stock units.

On July 17, Mewawalla fired back, stating his disagreements with the board’s representation of his performance and his removal from the board of directors.

“I respectfully and vigorously disagree with the contention and characterizations in the Form 8-K that Mawson filed, and, as you know, I have informed the board of the reasons for my disagreement,” stated Mewawalla.

“Because the matter is currently the subject of litigation, I will not comment further at this time. I am confident that stakeholders will be able to make informed judgments as additional information becomes available through appropriate channels,” he added.

Mewawalla highlighted several achievements from his time as CEO, including:

“136 percent year-over-year growth in digital colocation revenue; 35 percent year-over-year growth in gross profit; 36 percent overall revenue growth year-over-year; Reduction in SG&A expenses compared to the prior year; Significant customer growth and overall business expansion; Expansion funded entirely through operational cash flow; Thought leadership and enhanced strategic, operational, and technological capabilities,” he stated.

Despite the disagreement, Mewawalla expressed his "deep gratitude" to the company: "I am so proud of all that we have accomplished together, and wish the company the very best for the future."

Mewawalla had led Mawson since 2023, taking over from founder James Manning. He previously held roles at Nokia, Yahoo!, NBC, and others.

On LinkedIn, Mewawalla is now listed as executive chairman and chief AI architect at Phunware, a Nasdaq-listed enterprise software company specializing in mobile app solutions.

Mawson Infrastructure has historically focused on its cryptocurrency mining business. However, the company also offers digital colocation services from its data centers in Pennsylvania. It has a 120MW facility in Midland and another 8.8MW facility in Bellafonte.

In April, Mawson signed a crypto colocation deal with Canaan Inc for 64MW of compute power, fueled by around 17,453 latest-generation application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining rigs.

In January, the company signed a 20MW lease with an unnamed AI customer, which included a Letter of Intent (LOI) for a potential further 144MW expansion.

Mawson sold its Pecos site, where Canaan now has a presence, to a fund managed by Mainnet Capital as an undeveloped greenfield site in 2023.