Wild Abuse Allegations Taint Indiegogo Helmet Maker Skully (digitaltrends.com)

Skully raised $2.4 million on Indiegogo in 2014 to manufacture motorcycle helmets with built-in Augmented Reality. Now they're filing for bankruptcy, and informing customers that refunds are unlikely on their $1,500 pre-ordered helmets. But a lawsuit filed by Skully bookkeeper Isabelle Faithhauer "claims the Wellers used the funds raised by the Indiegogo campaign and a secondary $11 million round of funding in 2015 as their personal 'piggy banks' to buy several motorcycles, two Dodge Vipers, groceries, and so on," according to a Digital Trends article shared by KingGypsy: The Wellers took trips to Bermuda and Hawaii using company funds, she said, went to strip clubs, rented a Lamborghini, and paid for personal housekeeping services on the company credit card, as well as paying out funds ranging from $500 to $80,000. Lastly, she claims that the Wellers asked her to fudge the books to obscure the expenses. Faithhauer claims that when accountants came calling with questions about the expenses, she was up front about what was going on. She says that when she took a pre-approved vacation to Disneyland in December of 2015, she was fired upon her return and offered a severance package, which the suit calls "hush money." She declined the offer.
"Following her termination at Skully, Faithhauer claims that when she found a new job, her new employer contacted the Wellers at Skully and were told she could not be trusted with confidential information. She was fired from that job as well."

Comments

This is why I don't consider crowd funding schemes

[Hasaf]

Crowdfunding is not an investment, it is pre-purchasing a product that isn't in production, that is all it is. The buyers have no management, or ownership, control of the company. If a company has such a great idea then they can seek funding through selling shares of ownership. The investors, as owners, they can demand accountability from the other owners.

Crowdfunding is nothing but giving money to a person in the hope of a product at some future time. Investing is ownership.

Erh... people? Could we wait for the verdict?

[Opportunist]

What we have so far are allegations of an ex-employee. I have had that before. You have to fire someone for being an insufferable asshole and the next months are spent in a court room.

Don't get me wrong, if they embezzled their customer's money, hang them on their nuts 'til they fall off and ensure they land on their heads, preferably on something sharp. But I'd like to know that they really did it before I put the wire 'round their gonads.