The court hearing between the founders of Envion and their CEO took place at 11AM (CEST) today. The hearing, also known as the “Founders against Van Aubel and Matthias Woestman”, was held at the Landgerichts Berlin (Court Berlin).
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A Quick Recap
After raising over $100 million in a successful ICO round earlier this year, the German blockchain startup Envion has been on the verge of meltdown, with claims of fraud proliferating its various social media channels.
The Swiss-based company’s claim to fame is its promise to bring clean energy to the computers that manage Bitcoin. Originally from Berlin, Envion aims to deliver smart, scalable off-grid solutions to maximize the value of renewable and traditional energy worldwide. The project started to gain traction following partnership announcements with German businesspeople and politicians as well as a Fraunhofer, the largest institute for solar research and smart grids in Europe. In fact, Envion is also certified to be compliant with both Swiss and American laws concerning ICOs.
Below is an excerpt from one of Envion’s Medium Posts:
“As financial regulators across the globe look to regulate I.C.O.s and protect investors, Envion serves as a model for a compliant crowdsale that operates with the same transparency and integrity of traditional financial markets.”However, following rumors about the fallout between the CEO of Envion, Matt Woestmann, and the founders, investors are beginning to lose faith in the company because of the ongoing dispute between the CEO and the founding team. According to a spokesman for the founders, Laurent Martin, problems began to arise even before the ICO started last year, with Woestmann being the root of the problem.
Woestmann, who is not part of the founding team, allegedly refused to relinquish his hold on the majority of the company’s shares after the founders gave him temporary control of those shares. He then proceeded to dilute the shares of the other owners, giving him full control over the raised funds from the ICO.
Beleaguered CEO Ditches Court Hearing
In response to Woestmann’s actions, Envion’s founding team have sought a court ruling against the action which crippled the company and prevents envion from fulfilling the contract made with investors who purchased envion’s EVN tokens.
However, much to everyone’s disbelief, Matt Woestmann and his lawyer, Van Aubel, did not show up at the court hearing today. In spite of Woestmann’s absence, Michael Luckow, the representative of the Founders, presented their case nevertheless.
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After the court hearing, the Founders announced in their Telegram group that the verdict will be released tomorrow. According to German law, since the defendants (Woestmann and co.) were absent from the court hearing, the court’s decision tomorrow will be final, and the defendants will not be able to appeal the ruling.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE UPDATES ABOUT THE VERDICT TOMORROW