LONDON (Alliance News) - Strat Aero PLC Friday reiterated that it has a "strong claim and a robust defence" against the former chairman and chief executive of its subsidiary as the company responded to recent media reports concerning the ongoing legal dispute.
The company, which is focused on the unmanned aerial vehicle market, launched legal action against Hulsey Smith earlier this year, claiming fraudulent activity and a breach of contract arising from misrepresentations made by him.
Smith was previously the chairman and chief executive of Strat Aero's subsidiary, Aero Kinetics, and the London-listed company claimed the misrepresentations were significant to its decision to acquire the firm that Smith founded.
On Friday, Tom Winnifrith from blogging site ShareProphets posted a "detailed dossier" that was published by Smith that contains "numerous internal emails appearing to show clear fraud by Strat as it raised money time and time again on AIM, the payment of a poster to ramp on bulletin boards and that the business model was just not viable".
http://www.shareprophets.com/views/22768/breaking-strat-aero-damning-court-papers-and-secret-emails-emerge-from-texas-fraud
Strat Aero has responded and echoed its previous stance on the legal dispute.
"The board would like to reiterate its previously stated position, which has been supported by the company's legal advisers, that it has a strong claim and a robust defence against Mr. Smith," said Strat Aero.
"The company intends to continue to vigorously pursue its claims against Mr Smith and believe his counterclaims and purported defence to be without merit and serve only to continue to undermine value in the group," the company added.
The court case will be heard in October and Strat Aero said it will "keep shareholders updated through the appropriate regulatory channels, which the board believes is the proper outlet for the dissemination of pertinent developments relating to this dispute."
Strat Aero shares were down 8.2% to 0.528 pence per share on Friday.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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