An XpresSpa board member, Richard Abbe of Iroquois Capital, has quit the company board during the middle of a heated legal battle accusing board members of deception, undue influence, and fraud. The day before his resignation Abbe, who is named personally in the lawsuit, took the extra step to retain his own lawyer in the securities fraud lawsuit that I first reported on in August.
Over the holiday break, when no one was paying attention to SEC filings, XpresSpa filed an 8-K on December 26th announcing Abbe’s departure as of December 18. Then after years of board service XpresSpa suddenly decided they should vote to offer the hedge fund manage a holiday gift. The board agreed to indemnify Abbe and advance any legal fees he might need to defend his good name from allegedly being involved with shenanigans, like you know misleading regulators or stock holders. The 8-K says this nice little exit present also includes the company picking up the tab for any fines or settlements Abbe might have to pay as a result of his work on the board. But what’s not clear is if Abbe was found acting in bad faith or criminal conduct that the indemnity would still hold.
The defendants in this case are being accused of a fraudulent scheme to trick the founders of an airport spa business, XpresSpa, into a merger with a public Microcap company that resulted in a massive loss of their business investment.The public company was called Form Holdings.
During the litigation, that begin in November 2017, I reported an ex-wife came forward with some potentially damaging evidence that would put some of the defendants in the hot seat with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That’s because the Sarbanes Oxley Act upped the anti for individuals to be charged criminally for making false claims in a Proxy Statement. A proxy statement is a legal document containing the information the Securities and Exchange Commission requires companies to provide to shareholders so they can make informed decisions about matters that will be brought up at an annual or special stockholder meeting. Issues usually covered in a proxy statement include proposals for new additions to the board of directors, information on directors’ salaries, information on bonus and options plans for directors.
More importantly, a proxy statement discloses any potential conflict of interest between the company and its directors, executives and auditors. Specifically, proxy statements must list any related-party transactions that occurred in the past between the company and its key personnel. Not disclosing conflicts of interest and related party transactions is exactly what the plaintiffs in the XpresSpa are accusing Abbe and friends of doing.
I have previously reported how Abbe is intertwined in this litigation drama with his fellow New York investing buddy Bruce Bernstein, who is president of Rockmore Capital. Bernstein and Abbe have a history of investing along side another small cap financier who has been widely reported on for his alleged leadership role in a pump and dump ring. That man is non other than Barry Honig. One such company is Vringo the predecessor to Form Holdings who is a named defended and the XpresSpa case.
In fact Abbe’s fund Iroquois Capital was named in one of the SEC subpoenas in the Honig Case. The government was looking for communications from Iroquois and one of the companies named for being a pump and dump called MGT Capital. I was first to report on the contents of the SEC subpoena, which was fishing for information to prove this group was trading as undisclosed affiliates and influencing public company CEO’s to get false press release published to drive up the price of a stock.
Surprisingly Iroquois capital, nor its fund managers, were named in the original SEC complaint against Team Honig. The SEC asked the court to file amended complaint, which is due February 6, that could add more names to the Honig enforcement action.
The XpresSpa case is currently in the Summary Judgement phase. This is where the defendants ask the judge to rule on the case without lengthy discovery and depositions being allowed. The former XpresSpa owners will be hoping the judge doesn’t allow summary judgement and the case moves forward to trial. This would force Bernstein and Abbe to have to do depositions and turn over more internal communication via discovery. Keep in mind of a lot the juicy parts of this case are redacted from public filings. A notion I find unfair to public markets and XpresSpa current and future common shareholders.
You can find the SEC subpoena here:
$XSPA 8-K Abbe Board Resignation:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1410428/000114420418066266/tv509891_8k.htm
Previous reporting on XpresSpa, Abbe, and Bernstein:
Iroquois Capital’s Richard Abbe Sued For Fraudulent Takeover Scheme of XpresSPA
Rockmore Capital’s Bruce Bernstein Ex-Wife Outs him for possible SEC Violations in $XSPA Deal
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