Harassment alleged by CellCyte ex-exec

A former CellCyte executive said in a police report that she's being harassed by former colleagues who blame her as the source of media reports that led to the company's stock-market collapse.

The Bothell biotechnology company's shares plummeted after The Seattle Times reported how promoters were hyping the stock and pointing to discrepancies in the résumé of founder and Chief Executive Gary Reys. The stories cited publicly available sources.

The partially blotted-out police report, filed Tuesday, said that Theresa Deisher, a senior researcher who quit last October amid disagreements with Reys, received an e-mail that she perceived as a veiled threat to make her leave the area.

Deisher declined to comment. Her lawyer, Christopher Wells, of the Seattle law firm Lane Powell, also refused to comment, citing an "ongoing legal dispute" with CellCyte.

Neither Reys nor his attorney responded to requests for comment. The incident was first reported in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The police report also said that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating CellCyte.

An SEC official said he could not comment. Shareholders have filed three class-action lawsuits against the company.

In a statement released Monday, CellCyte said the claims are without merit.

Ángel González: 206-515-5644 or agonzalez@seattletimes.com