Moshe Hogeg, the founder of Sirin Labs, has been sued for alleged unpaid bills for the company's flagship Finney blockchain phones. The plaintiff, Hong Kong-based Foxconn International Holding (FIH), said that the founder of Sirin Lab and his associates owe the company $ 6 million.
The controversial position of Sirin Labs
According to a report by the Israeli business newspaper Calcalist, the company claimed in its lawsuit that it produced 10.000 units of blockchain-based Finney smartphones for Sirin Labs, a company founded by Hogeg.
In later years, FIH would try to get payment from Hogeg. The founder of Sirin Labs was involved in the production process. According to the report, Sirin Labs first contacted FIH for manufacturing the phone in 2017.
Production of the blockchain phone, which was touted as the next big thing in blockchain, began in March 2018. Hogeg would be heavily involved in the manufacturing process, including the choice of phone design.
Once production of the smartphone was finished, FIH sent an invoice of $ 2,7 million for the purchase of components, development work and production to Sirin Labs. The lawsuit also claims that Sirin has accumulated $ 3,2 million in component and labor debts.
FIH asks for more than 20 million shekels (5,9 million dollars) from Hogeg and his people Investors Tzvika Landau and Guy Elhanini, after claiming they only received one payment in November 2018.
Sales below expectations for Finney's blockchain phone
Blockchain phones have not been sold as expected by the company. According to the lawsuit, Sirin Labs has invented several excuses for non-payment. The Swiss-based company said the bank's "bureaucrats" refused to authorize the conversion of digital currencies into fiat.
The lawsuit stated: “In practice, the defendants avoided paying their debt in any way possible and denied their liability to the company. It turned out that there was no truth to the matter and that the plaintiffs' bank regarded crypto funds as an asset of unknown origin ”.
Sirin Labs said these phones would change the way users interact with blockchain technology. However, sales did not go according to the company's plan, with unsatisfactory demand for the phone in the market. In the four months following its launch, Sirin had to lay off 25% of its staff due to poor sales.
