Again I wonder / ask, what are the most egregious instances of "fraud" that shareholders feel they have witnessed here? - Diwan collected money to start a company that was going to be standalone, which he promised would license technology from TheraCour (without stating the terms he envisioned for the licensing agreement).
- Once the money was collected, Diwan essentially negotiated with himself the egregious terms of an agreement that the investors would never have agreed to, making NNVC a puppet and piggy bank for Diwan's double-dealing and personal interests. Only he (70% owner of TheraCour) and another 10% owner of TheraCour signed off on the deal. (I would argue he did this with the specific intent on not having to negotiate with shareholders funding the company...so of course Diwan knew it wasn't a fair deal.)
- Coming out of the deal Diwan controlled the company's CEO, board, manufacturing, R&D, vote, etc. Not at all what the early investors would have agreed to.
- Then he claimed that a third party had reviewed and approved the agreement as fair, but refused to provide that assessment/documentation to Bramell (of Yidam) for his inspection.
In any event, the lawsuit was eventually dismissed, so I don't think we'll ever know the full truth there. Dismissed, meaning settled. Yidam received a cash settlement. It was insufficient, but Diwan had Yidam over a barrel. Diwan was using shareholder money to defend himself against shareholders. So shareholders were paying for both sides' legal expenses. Diwan never refuted Yidam's claims. He fought the suit based on jurisdiction (a shell game of where the fraud occurred...Nevada, Connecticut, Colorado), standing (Yidam was only a 1% shareholder), and legal procedure (Yidam not specifying the monetary damages, but instead requesting NNVC open their books). Eventually Yidam could not afford to go on, so Diwan paid what appears to be Yidam's legal bills to get him to stop.
I would argue that we know enough of the details to see that there was fraud and chicanery going on, if one is willing to objectively see the situation. The courts are seldom able to provide justice, which is why wise, well-intended judges try to get parties to settle over civil matters whenever possible.
IMO it's pretty clear Diwan is not only an arrogant narcissist, he's also a crook (who happens to have hired a better lawyer)...although I doubt he sees it that way.
Feel free to explain why that doesn't seem like fraud to you. |
