Complaint Claims Breach of Agreement on Stock Compensation for Services to Cryptocurrency Payment Company
On Friday, October 11, 2024, Marcus Laun filed a complaint in the California Superior Court, Los Angeles County against David Greenway, James R. King, Yari Nieken, and additional unnamed defendants, alleging a series of breaches related to a business arrangement involving shares of a Canadian public company, Net Cents Technologies, Inc.
The complaint outlines several claims, including breach of oral agreement, promissory estoppel, conversion, constructive trust, quantum meruit, declaratory relief, and promissory fraud, with the amount in controversy exceeding $1 million.
Laun, a resident of Los Angeles County with extensive experience in advising startup companies, alleges that he entered into an oral agreement with King on February 12, 2020, in Munich, Germany. According to the complaint, the agreement stipulated that Laun would provide strategic advice and investor attraction services for Net Cents, a company that provides merchants the ability to accept cryptocurrency payments online or in-store, in exchange for 30% of an initial three million shares that King would receive for these services. Laun claims that King represented that additional shares would be provided once King received ten million shares.
Despite Laun’s efforts to fulfill his obligations under this agreement, he alleges that King failed to deliver the promised shares and instead issued them to third parties, including Greenway and Nieken. The complaint states that Laun repeatedly pursued King for compensation but received only minimal payments.
In the complaint, Laun details a timeline of events that began in November 2019 when King approached him to assist with raising capital for Net Cents. Laun claims that he utilized his network to identify potential investors and actively participated in presentations to institutional investors across Europe. However, he alleges that the shares he was promised were instead issued to other entities, including those controlled by Greenway and Nieken.
Laun’s allegations extend to claims that Greenway and Nieken used funds that should have been allocated to him to invest in another company founded by Laun, Sky Quarry. The complaint notes that these defendants allegedly purchased shares in Sky Quarry for approximately $273,990, using proceeds that rightfully belonged to Laun.
Further compounding the situation, Laun asserts that King directed the issuance of shares to various entities without including him, despite having promised otherwise. The complaint details specific transactions, including the issuance of one million shares to a company controlled by Nieken and Greenway, as well as other allocations that did not involve Laun.
In an attempt to resolve the issues, Laun claims to have signed a mutual settlement agreement with King on August 26, 2022, which stipulated that in exchange for 500,000 shares of Sky Quarry, all claims related to the shares owed for his services would be settled. Despite this agreement, Laun alleges that he has not received the full compensation promised and that King failed to direct the transfer of shares as agreed.
The complaint also highlights Laun’s assertion that the shares of Net Cents are no longer trading on the open market, as trading was halted due to issues with the company’s auditing firm. Laun suggests that actions by the defendants may have contributed to this situation, thus depriving him of potential compensation for the shares he was owed.
Laun’s legal action seeks not only the recovery of his shares but also damages for the alleged misconduct of the defendants. He claims that he has been damaged by the defendants’ actions, which he argues were willful and malicious.
Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.
