Former Member of the Supervisory Board of Augustus Intelligence Demands $30 Million from Former Executives
Philipp Amthor, a member of the Bundestag and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), continues to face trouble from his one-year stint as a member of the supervisory board of Augustus Intelligence, a New York start-up that faced scandal and mystery in 2019 and 2020. The trustee of the company’s assets, Brian Ryniker, has filed a lawsuit in a US bankruptcy court to recover $30 million from former company executives, including the estate administrators of the late founder Wolfgang Haupt, his comrade-in-arms Pascal Weinberger, and others, as well as Amthor.
Augustus Intelligence was a start-up that aimed to invest in future technologies such as cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence (AI) and wanted to disrupt the industry with its own programs. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2021 and has been in the news in Germany due to the so-called “Amthor affair.” The CDU member asked his party colleague, Peter Altmaier, in his capacity as Economics Minister, on his official MP stationery for political support for the company. This led to the Bundestag introducing a lobby register in 2020, which also applies to the federal government.
According to the lawsuit, Augustus Intelligence was an air act, and financiers who invested in the company were allegedly cheated. The liquidator accuses Amthor and other directors of having been aware of the abuses and violating their supervision and the law. Effective internal controls were not carried out.
Amthor has stated that he would not comment comprehensively on the content of the lawsuit due to the ongoing proceedings. He believed that the investment commitments were valid and that there were no side agreements. Ryniker is now seeking a lot of money back from the investors, including Swarovski members, ex-Roland Berger boss Charles-Édouard Bouée, ex-“Bild” boss Kai Diekmann, and other German entrepreneurs, former Federal Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU), and his company Spitzberg Partners.
The decision on the content and focus of lawsuits lies solely with the insolvency administration, according to a lawyer for the majority investors. The group itself does not doubt Amthor’s dutiful conduct. Hans-Georg Maassen and August Hanning, the former heads of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Intelligence Service, respectively, also acted as advisors and lobbyists for the start-up. Angela Merkel, the former Chancellor of Germany, also campaigned for Augustus Intelligence.
