Limo Service in Paragon, IN

Paragon Bank has announced a strategic expansion of its SME Lending division with the appointment of two senior specialists, underscoring the bank’s ambition to accelerate support for UK small businesses transitioning to green energy solutions.

With more than 30 years in the asset finance sector and a track record of supporting energy transition initiatives, Craggs will lead efforts to deliver bespoke funding packages aimed at helping SMEs meet net zero goals. He will report directly to John Phillipou, Managing Director of SME Lending at Paragon and Chair of the Finance & Leasing Association.

Craggs brings extensive leadership experience, having served as Managing Director at ECS Group and most recently as Business Development Manager at Premier, a Paragon Banking Group company. His deep relationships with energy generators and green tech installers across the UK will be central to scaling Paragon’s green finance offering nationwide.

Gorman brings over 13 years of experience in the SME broker sector, with prior roles at Hampshire Trust Bank, Macquarie Bank, and Aldermore Bank, as well as hands-on experience at an asset finance brokerage.

Her broker-focused background is expected to play a pivotal role in strengthening Paragon’s relationships within the intermediary network and in broadening the bank’s reach across the SME market.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Emma and Andy to the SME Lending team,” said Stewart Good, Sales Director of SME Lending at Paragon Bank. “Emma’s broker-side expertise and Andy’s decades of leadership in asset finance align well with our strategic ambitions. Their combined expertise and ambition will be instrumental in driving our growth and delivering tailored financial solutions to our clients.”

The appointments come at a time of sustained growth for Paragon’s commercial lending activities. In the last financial year, the SME Lending division saw lending increase by 7.3% to over £480 million, alongside an expansion of the loan book.

Michael Greene, Co-CEODavid Rowe, Co-CEOTess Sprechman, Investor RelationsAE Industrial Partners, LP

John Fleming, CEOCatherine Gray, Director of OperationsParagon Solutions US, Inc.

Re: Recent findings of Paragon spyware targeting civil society and journalists

We, the undersigned human rights and press freedom organizations and experts, write in light of the newly released findings by the Citizen Lab, which confirms the use of Paragon Solutions’ Graphite spyware against journalists, adding to the previous findings revealing the company’s tech was used to target civil society actors in Italy, including humanitarian workers. These disclosures, coupled with the Italian Parliamentary Committee for the Security of the Republic (COPASIR) report and prior disclosures by Meta, raise urgent concerns regarding Paragon’s due diligence practices, post-sale oversight mechanisms, and provision of access to remedy for affected individuals.

The current situation illustrates that Paragon’s strategy of selling exclusively to democratic governments as a risk mitigation measure does not inherently offer sufficient protections against the misuse of surveillance technologies. Italy, a European Union member state, a signatory to the Pall Mall Code of Practice for States, and subject to the European Media Freedom Act, nonetheless deployed spyware against individuals engaged in humanitarian work and hasn’t provided satisfactory answers regarding the targeting of journalists in Italy. These developments underscore that voluntary frameworks that primarily rely on viewing spyware end users as responsible vs irresponsible actors are inadequate without strong safeguards, oversight, and enforcement mechanisms.

Among the latest targets of Paragon spyware, forensically confirmed by the Citizen Lab, are journalist Ciro Pellegrino and an anonymous prominent European journalist. Also targeted and confirmed are Luca Casarini and Giuseppe Caccia, individuals involved in search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean. Their surveillance raises significant questions about the deployment of spyware under vague or overbroad national security justifications, as referenced in the COPASIR report with respect to Casarini, Caccia, and other Italian victims.

In the case of journalist Francesco Cancellato, Meta had notified Cancellato that his device was targeted with Graphite spyware. To date, no information has been provided on which government deployed the spyware, and Francesco Cancellato remains without answers or remedy. Meanwhile, Paragon claimed it offered the Italian government a technical means of verification, and that it “stands ready to assist in any investigation, should an official request be made by the Italian authorities.”

While the contract with Italy has been reportedly terminated, this does not absolve Paragon of responsibility for the harms already caused. Reactive contract suspension following public exposure is not a substitute for proactive oversight, transparency, or accountability. The apparently absent victim notification process, a remedy framework, or a public reporting of clients’ abuses strongly indicates a systemic failure to manage the risks associated with surveillance technology.

Paragon situates itself as a more ethical alternative to other spyware vendors, like NSO Group. However, the ongoing revelations regarding Italy’s use of Paragon’s technology against civil society and journalists raise serious doubts about the company’s compliance with international human rights norms or the expectations outlined in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). This includes the duty to provide remedy where harm has occurred, and to take meaningful steps to prevent future misuse.

Failure to comply with such norms can also have substantial legal and financial repercussions for Paragon, as well as its corporate investors. For example, since revelations about NSO Group’s Pegasus first emerged in 2016, the company has been dogged by government sanctions, failed acquisitions, and several legal cases, most recently culminating in a California jury finding that NSO Group liable for $447,719 in compensatory damages and a staggering $167,254,000 in punitive damages for targeting WhatsApp’s infrastructure with Pegasus spyware. In 2021, as investigative reporting drew further scrutiny of the company’s operations, the fund through which NSO Group had been acquired two years prior was liquidated. Novalpina Capital Partners, the private equity firm that had led the fund, itself initiated liquidation proceedings in 2023.

In this context, and in light of the confirmed cases of surveillance, we respectfully request a response to the following inquiries:

The individuals and communities targeted in this case were exercising fundamental rights and carrying out work that contributes to upholding fundamental rights and the pillars of democracy.

We urge Paragon and AE Industrial Partners to take this opportunity to demonstrate a meaningful commitment to international human rights standards by engaging transparently, providing remedy where warranted, and implementing robust safeguards to prevent recurrence.

We look forward to hearing from you and request a response by July 3, 2025.

Signatories

Organizations:

Individuals