A civil lawsuit filed in Texas against Chris Stott, boss of island-based ManSat, has been dropped, it has been confirmed.
Mr Stott was one of a number of parties named in the civil suit filed in Harris County Court, Houston, by Donna Beck who is seeking damages for negligence, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, Texas Securities Act violations and breach of contract.
But Ms Beck has now dropped him from her amended petition, stating: ‘I now believe that Chris Stott is an honourable man, and that he is innocent of any wrongdoing.’
In a short statement, Mr Stott spoke of his relief. He said: ‘I believe Ms Beck’s release speaks for itself. I’m just relieved this is all over.’
Ms Beck is continuing to pursue her claim against Isle of Man-based space exploration company Excalibur Almaz.
It was reported in September that Ms Beck was suing Houston patent attorney Art Dula, his companies Excalibur Exploration Limited, Excalibur Limited, Excalibur Almaz Limited and Excalibur Almaz USA Inc, and Excalibur directors J. Buckner Hightower and Christopher Stott.
Lawyers acting for Mr Stott and Excalibur Exploration said at the time they would be mounting a ‘rigorous’ defence against ‘completely unfounded’ claims made against them.
Ms Beck has now filed an amended petition, following discovery, alleging that Arthur Dula, Buckner Hightower and their several related corporate entities misled both Mr Stott and her.
Her complaint against Mr Dula, Mr Hightower and the Excalibur related entities remains unresolved.
She alleges Mr Dula defrauded her and her late husband out of $300,000 by being induced to purchase an investment in Excalibur Exploration Limited, with the ‘fundamental false representation’ that the company had the technical expertise and associations to develop a business to fly the first commercial prospecting space flight to an asteroid.
‘In fact, the entire operation was a sham and never accomplished anything of substance,’ she alleges.
