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Builder.ai collapsed due to the money to an Israeli private intelligence attire, a specialist in high -level crisis communications and one of the most feared law firms in the world, have revealed the American bankruptcy deposits of the London Tech technology group.
The main American portfolio company of the start-up supported by Microsoft filed a bankruptcy in Delaware on Monday, revealing unpaid bills and debts to a range of creditors, key customers to large technological companies such as Amazon and Microsoft.
The list of creditors also included: the private intelligence company based in Tel Aviv, the Shibumi strategy; The law firm in disputes in the United States Quinn Emanuel; And Sitrick Group, a public relations company based in Los Angeles specializing in the so-called “crisis communications”.
The three companies were hired after the Financial Times reported last year that Builder. The co-founders of the TAI, including its director general Sachin Dev Duggal, were involved in criminal surveys in India, according to people with direct knowledge of the issue.
The FT also reported on a series of other legal disputes than Duggal, Builder.ai self -proclaimed “Chief Wizard”, was confronted during his career.
Duggal denied the reprehensible acts concerning these questions and that his lawyers previously argued that he was only a witness in the Indian case.
Builder.ai collapsed last month after an internal investigation found proof of potentially false sales, the income reported under the Duggal watch found a quarter of the previous estimates. At the time, Builder.ai refused to comment, adding that it was “focused on the ordered decline and the preservation of the value of the employees”.
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Quinn Emanuel sent a letter to the FT last year in the name of Builder.ai and Duggal, alleging potential confidence violations within the framework of the report on relations with the customers of the technological company.
The American dispute specialist is one of the essential companies for large companies and individuals involved in disputes. The business cards and the emails of its partners often carry the Stro-Ligne line: “the most dreaded law firm in the world”.
Mike Sitrick, the founder of his eponymous public relations company Sitrick and Company, also contacted the FT last year in the name of Builder.ai, raising concerns about the newspaper’s declaration process. He is a widely sought -after crisis communications specialist.
Shibumi was founded by Israeli espionage specialists in Or Ori Gur-Ari and Saphia Fenton companies, the latter working before for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Shibumi has praised its use of former spies from the country’s intelligence services to solve thorny problems for ultra-rich customers.
Shibumi was also involved in a high -level spy scandal in 2022, when the Financial Times revealed that the controversial financier Lars Windhorst had employed the Israeli company to target a German football boss.
While Windhorst and Shibumi initially denied knowledge of the alleged smear campaign in Hertha Berlin, an internal investigation at the club later discovered that the campaign invoices were paid from a bank account “attributed to” Windhorst.
The German financier told the FT in an interview last year that he “had a legitimate reason to ask professionals to help me investigate” the former president of Hertha Berlin, Werner Gegenbauer, but said that he “regretted” of what had happened.
The US Builder Portfolio Company.ai applied for the bankruptcy protection of chapter 7 in Delaware on Monday, a process that will allow it to officially liquidate its assets after having said to employees last month that it would deposit insolvency.
The American bankruptcy court is famous transparent and the company revealed that it had more than 200 creditors. Builder.ai listed liabilities of $ 100 million and assets of less than $ 10 million, according to court documents.
Bankruptcy deposits also list T & M USA, an American business intelligence company, as a creditor. The T&M website indicates that it helps “customers to overcome legal, reputation and commercial challenges to emerge safer and more resilient”.
A former manufacturer of former employees. AI said that “working with international professional advisers is a perfectly normal practice for a successful billions of billions of dollars operating in several jurisdictions”.
Duggal, Quinn Emanuel and Sitrick refused to comment. Reached by phone, Gur-Ari did not comment. He did not respond to a comment monitoring request on email. Builder.ai, Fenton and T&M did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
