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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Note 17. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Contingencies

 

From time to time, the Company may be subject to certain legal proceedings, claims and disputes that arise in the ordinary course of business. Although the outcomes of these legal proceedings cannot be predicted, the Company does not believe these actions, in the aggregate, will have a material adverse impact on its financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

 

SOS Information Technology New York, Inc. (“SOSNY”), a company incorporated under the laws of state of New York and a wholly owned subsidiary of SOS Ltd., filed a December 9, 2022 lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court against Thor Miner, Inc., which is Singularity’s joint venture (“Thor Miner”), Singularity Future Technology Ltd. (“Singularity” or the “Company,” and, together with Thor Miner, referred to as the “Corporate Defendants”), Lei Cao, Yang Jie, John F. Levy, Tieliang Liu, Tuo Pan, Shi Qiu, Jing Shan, and Heng Wang (jointly referred to as the “Individual Defendants”) (collectively, the Individual Defendants and the Corporate Defendants are the “Defendants”). SOSNY and Thor Miner entered into a January 10, 2022 Purchase and Sale Agreement (the “PSA”) for the purchase of $200,000,000 in crypto mining rigs, which SOSNY claims was breached by the Defendants. The first purchase order under the PSA was for $80,000,000 of crypto mining rigs.

 

SOSNY and Defendants entered into a certain settlement agreement and general mutual release with an Effective Date of December 28, 2022 (“Settlement Agreement”). Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, Thor Miner agreed to pay a sum of thirteen million in U.S. dollars ($13,000,000) (the “Settlement Payment”) to SOSNY in exchange for SOSNY dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice as to the settling Defendants and without prejudice as to all others. The full Settlement Payment was received by SOSNY on December 28, 2022. SOSNY dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice against Singularity (and other Defendants) on December 28, 2022.

 

Singularity and Thor Miner further covenanted and agreed that if they receive additional funds from HighSharp (Shenzhen Gaorui) Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (“HighSharp”) related to the PSA, they will promptly transfer such funds to SOSNY in an amount not to exceed forty million, five hundred sixty thousand, five hundred sixty-nine dollars ($40,560,569.00) (which is the total amount paid by SOSNY pursuant to the PSA less the price of the machines actually received by SOSNY pursuant to the PSA). The Settlement Payment and any payments subsequently received by SOSNY from HighSharp shall be deducted from the total amount of forty million, five hundred sixty thousand, five hundred sixty-nine dollars ($40,560,569.00) previously paid by, and now due and owing to SOSNY. In further consideration of the Settlement Agreement, Thor Miner agreed to execute and provide to SOSNY, within seven (7) business days after SOSNY’s receipt of the Settlement Payment, an assignment of all claims it may have against HighSharp or otherwise to the proceeds of the PSA. See Note 21 for further details.

 

Lawsuits in connection with the Securities Purchase Agreement

 

On September 23, 2022, Hexin Global Limited and Viner Total Investments Fund filed a lawsuit against the Company and other defendants in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Hexin lawsuit”). On December 5, 2022, St. Hudson Group LLC, Imperii Strategies LLC, Isyled Technology Limited, and Hsqynm Family Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Company and other defendants in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “St. Hudson lawsuit,” and together with the Hexin lawsuit, the “Investor Actions”). The plaintiffs in the Investor Actions are investors that entered into a securities purchase agreement (“Securities Purchase Agreement”) with the Company in late 2021. Each of these plaintiffs asserts causes of action for, among other things, violations of federal securities laws, breach of fiduciary duty, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract, conversion, and unjust enrichment, and seeks monetary damages and specific performance to remove legends from certain securities sold pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement. The Hexin lawsuit claims monetary damages of “at least $6 million,” plus interest, costs, fees, and attorneys’ fees. The St. Hudson lawsuit claims monetary damages of “at least $4.4 million,” plus interest, costs, fees, and attorneys’ fees.

 

Lawsuit in connection with the Financial Advisory Agreement

 

On October 6, 2022, Jinhe Capital Limited (“Jinhe”) filed a lawsuit against the Company in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, asserting causes of actions for, among other things, breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, conversion, quantum meruit, and unjust enrichment, in connection with a financial advisory agreement entered into by and between Jinhe and the Company on November 10, 2021. Jinhe claims monetary damages of “at least $575,000” and “potentially exceeding $1.8 million,” plus interest, costs, and attorneys’ fees.

 

On January 10, 2023, St. Hudson lawsuit was consolidated with this lawsuit and Hexin lawsuit; on February 24, 2023, all three consolidated actions were dismissed without prejudice by the court, in furtherance of the parties having reached an agreement in principle to settle their disputes.

 

Putative Class Action

 

On December 9, 2022, Piero Crivellaro, purportedly on behalf of the persons or entities who purchased or acquired publicly traded securities of the Company between February 2021 and November 2022, filed a putative class action against the Company and other defendants in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleging violations of federal securities laws related to alleged false or misleading disclosures made by the Company in its public filings. The plaintiff seeks unspecified damages, plus interest, costs, fees, and attorneys’ fees. As this action is still in the early stage, the Company cannot predict the outcome.

 

In addition to the above litigations, the Company is also subject to additional contractual litigations as to which it is unable to estimate the outcome.

 

Government Investigations

 

Following a publication issued by Hindenburg Research dated May 5, 2022, the Company received subpoenas from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is cooperating with the government regarding these matters. At this early stage, the Company is not able to estimate the outcome or duration of the government investigations. 

 

Employee Agreement

 

For the year ended June 30, 2022, the Company had employment agreements with each of Mr. Lei Cao, Ms. Tuo Pan and Mr. Yang Jie. Employment agreement of Mr. Lei Cao provided for a ten-year term that extended automatically in the absence of termination notice provided at least 30 days prior to the fifth anniversary date of the agreement. Employment agreements of Mr. Tuo Pan and Mr. Yang Jie provided for five-year terms that extended automatically in the absence of termination notice provided at least 30 days prior to the fifth anniversary date of the agreement. If the Company failed to provide this notice or if the Company wished to terminate an employment agreement in the absence of cause, then the Company was obligated to provide at least 30 days’ prior notice. In such case during the initial term of the agreement, the Company would need to pay such executive (i) the remaining salary through the date of October 31, 2026. In addition, to pay Mr. Lei Cao and Ms. Tuo Pan (ii) two times of the then applicable annual salary if there had been no change in control, as defined in the employment agreements or three-and-half times of the then applicable annual salary if there was a change in control. The employment agreements for Ms. Tuo Pan and Mr. Yang Jie were terminated in 2022, the Company has no remaining obligation under such agreements. Mr. Cao’s employment agreement with the Company was terminated, discussed in more detail under Note 21.