Seven West Media’s billionaire chairman Kerry Stokes has attacked “scumbag journalists” for their reporting on decorated soldier Ben-Roberts Smith and denied the use of company funds in a high stakes defamation case involving the Victoria-Cross recipient.

At the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday, Stokes defended Roberts-Smith, who is employed by Seven and is suing The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times over a series of stories published in 2018. Roberts-Smith says the stories wrongly accused him of being complicit in war crimes and committing an act of domestic violence against a former lover.

Callum Foote, who was attending the AGM on behalf of activist shareholder Stephen Mayne said he was called over by a woman to speak to Stokes after the AGM concluded, where he had asked a series of questions about Roberts-Smith’s case and employment status.

“Tell Stephen that Ben Roberts Smith is innocent and deserves legal representation and that scumbag journalists should be held to account. And quote me on that,” Stokes said, according to Foote.

Stokes was also asked at the AGM whether Seven was funding Roberts-Smith’s defamation case.

“The company has put no money into Ben Roberts-Smith,” said Stokes.

The Herald and The Age wrote last April that $1.89 million of company funds were lent to the ex-soldier to the fight war crime allegations and the loan was paid in June 2020 by the Stokes family’s private company, ACE.

Seven’s commercial director Bruce McWilliam said Roberts-Smith, who was working as general manager of 7Queensland until the defamation case commenced, was still an employee of Seven.

“Obviously, Mr Roberts Smith is an executive of the company, who is currently on leave,” McWilliam said.