Item 3. Legal Proceedings
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are subject to
the legal proceedings and claims discussed below as well as certain other legal proceedings and claims that have not been fully resolved
and that have arisen in the ordinary course of business. Our management evaluates our exposure to these claims and proceedings individually
and in the aggregate and evaluates potential losses on such litigation if the amount of the loss is estimable and the loss is probable.
However, the outcome of legal proceedings and claims brought against the Company is subject to significant uncertainty. Although management
considers the likelihood of such an outcome to be remote, if one or more of these legal matters were resolved against the Company for
amounts in excess of management’s expectations, the Company’s financial statements for that reporting period could be materially
adversely affected. The Company settled certain matters subsequent to year end that did not individually or in the aggregate, have a
material impact on the Company’s financial condition or operating results.
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In 2017, the Company’s
former COO was awarded approximately $238 in accrued salary and related charges by the California labor board. In August 2021, the Company
reached a settlement by which the Company agreed to pay approximately $330, representing the principal award plus accrued interest. As
of the time of this filing, the Company has paid the full $330 toward the settlement amount.
Between July 2017 and
March 2022, the Company was engaged in litigation with a former director, Robert Kopple, relating to more than $13 million and the
current equivalent of the approximately 23 million warrants, exercisable for seven years at a price of $0.10 per share, which Mr.
Kopple and his affiliated entities (collectively the “Kopple Parties”) claimed should have been originally issued to
them pursuant to various agreements with the Company entered to between 2013-2016. In March 2022, the Company reached a settlement
with the Kopple Parties that resolved all claims asserted against the Company without any admission, concession or finding of any
fault, liability or wrongdoing on the part of the Company. Under the terms of the settlement, the Company agreed to pay an aggregate
amount of $10 million over a period of seven years, including $3 million initial payment to be paid in June 2022. $150 was paid in
June 2022, and the balance of the initial payment of $2.85 million was extended to May 29, 2023, In exchange for the extension, the
Company was required to pay $165 in extension and forbearance fees in cash and $430 in accrued forbearance fees. Beginning in
January 2023, interest accrues on the unpaid balance at a rate of 6%, compounded annually. All amounts, including all accrued
interest and deferred fees, are to be paid no later than eight years from the date of the initial payment. The Kopple Parties have
also received seven-year warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of approximately 3.3 million shares of our common stock at a price
of $0.85 per share. The settlement also provides for standard mutual general release provisions and includes customary
representations, warranties, and covenants, including certain increases in the amount payable to the Kopple Parties and the right of
such parties to enter judgment against the Company if the Company remains in uncured default in its payment obligations under the
settlement.
During the year ended February
29, 2024, the note was amended multiple times to extend the payment dates of the balance of the initial payment of $2,850, originally
due in June 2022, and the first installment payment of $1,000, originally due in June 2023 (collectively, the “past due principal”).
As a result of these amendments, the Company incurred additional extension and forbearance fees totaling $450 and adjustment to principal
balance of $23 that was recorded as part of interest expense. As of February 29, 2024, outstanding principal balance amounted to $10,938,
including the $3,850 past due principal (see below).
In March 2024, the Company
and Kopple again amended the note payable. The amendment (i) replaced the requirement to pay the $3,850 past due principal balance with
the requirement to pay $2,000 due December 15, 2024, effectively extending the payment of $1,850 to future periods; (ii) increased the
stated interest rate to 10%; (iii) added a fee of $15 monthly until the Company makes a principal payment of $2 million by December 2024;
(iv) effective August 30, 2024, the Company will grant Kopple a conversion right that gives Kopple the option to be able to convert the
note payable into equity of the Company at a conversion price of the lower of $1.00 per share or 50% of the 10 day volume weighted average
price of the Company’s common stock; (v) during Fiscal 2025, will require the Company to pay 20% of all collected revenues within
10 days of the end of each fiscal quarter; (vi) will require the Company to pay Kopple 20% of any amount raised in new capital in the
form of equity, debt or convertible debt above $3.5 million; (vii) reduces the exercise price of the warrants granted to Kopple in March
2022 from $0.85 per share to $0.50 per share; and (vii) extends the warrant expiration date from March 8, 2029, to March 31, 2031.
The Company will account for this amendment in the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, for fiscal year 2025.
On March 26, 2019, various
stockholders of the Company controlling a combined total of more than 27.5 million shares delivered a signed written consent to the Company
removing Ronald Buschur as a member of the Company’s Board and electing Cipora Lavut as a director of the Company. On March
27, 2019, those same stockholders delivered a further signed written consent to the Company removing William Anderson and Si Ryong Yu
as members of the Company’s Board and electing Robert Lempert and David Mann as directors of the Company. These written consents
represented a majority of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock as of March 26, 2019, and March 27, 2019,
respectively. Because of Aura’s refusal to recognize the legal effectiveness of the consents, on April 8, 2019, the stockholders
filed suit in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware pursuant to Section 225 of the Delaware General Corporations Law, seeking
an order confirming the validity of the consents and declaring that Aura’s Board consists of Ms. Lavut, Mr. Mann, Dr. Lempert,
Mr. Douglas and Mr. Diaz-Versón, Jr. On July 8, 2019 the Court of Chancery entered final judgment in favor of the
stockholder plaintiffs, confirming that (a) Ronald Buschur, Si Ryong Yu and William Anderson had been validly removed by the holders
of a majority of the Company’s outstanding stock acting by written consent (b) Ms. Lavut, Mr. Mann and Dr. Lempert had been validly
elected by the holders of a majority of the Company’s outstanding stock acting by written consent, and (c) the Company’s
Board of Directors validly consists of Cipora Lavut, David Mann, Robert Lempert, Gary Douglas and Salvador Diaz-Versón, Jr. As
a result of prior management’s unsuccessful opposition to this stockholders’ action filed in the Court of Chancery, such
stockholders may be potentially entitled to recoup their litigation costs from the Company under Delaware’s corporate benefit doctrine
and/or other legal provisions. To date, no final determination has been made as to the amount of recoupment, if any, to which such stockholders
may be entitled.
In
June 2022, Melvin Gagerman, the Company’s former CEO and CFO whose employment with Aura was permanently terminated in July 2019,
brought suit against the Company for repayment of an allegedly unsecured demand promissory note in the principal amount of $82 which
he claims was entered into in April 2014 and bears interest at a rate of 10% per annum. Despite the fact that, based on Gagerman’s
allegations, the note was issued during a period when he was the Company’s CEO, CFO, Corporate Secretary and Chairman of Aura’s
Board of Directors, Gagerman has stated that he does not possess a copy of the alleged promissory note. The Company disputes that any
amount is presently owed to Gagerman and has filed a cross-complaint against him for, among things, conversion, violation of California
Business& Professions Code §17200, and various breaches of fiduciary duty that the Company believes Gagerman committed against
Aura, including without limitation, Gagerman’s actions in opposing the valid 2019 stockholder consent action.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not
applicable.
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PART II
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.