MARA Holdings, Inc. 10-K

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS On January 14, 2021, Plaintiff Michael Ho (“Plaintiff” or “Ho”) filed a Civil Complaint for Damages and Restitution (“Complaint”) against Marathon Patent Group, Inc., now known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Riverside. The Complaint alleges six causes of action against the Company, (1) Breach of Written Contract; (2) Breach of Implied Contract; (3) Quasi-Contract; (4) Services Rendered; (5) Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Relations; and (6) Negligent Interference with Prospective Economic Relations. The Complaint seeks damages, restitution, punitive damages, and costs of suit. The claims arise from the same set of facts. Ho alleges that the Company profited from commercially-sensitive information he shared with the Company, purportedly under a mutual non-disclosure agreement, and that the Company failed to compensate him for his role in securing the acquisition of a supplier of energy for the Company. On February 22, 2021, the Company responded to Mr. Ho’s Complaint with a general denial and the assertion of applicable affirmative defenses. Then, on February 25, 2021, the Company removed the action to the United States District Court in the Central District of California, where the action remains pending. Marathon filed a motion for summary judgment/adjudication of all causes of action. On February 11, 2022, the Court granted the motion and dismissed Ho’s 2 nd , 5 th and 6 th causes of action. Discovery is closed. The Court held a pre-trial conference on February 24, 2022, where it vacated the March 3, 2022 trial date and ordered the parties to meet and confer on a new trial date, which will likely be after June 2022, given the Court’s current backlog as a result of Covid. The Court discussed the various theories of damages maintained by the parties. In its ruling on the summary judgment motion and at the pre-trial conference on February 24, 2022, the Court noted that a jury is more likely to accept $150,000 as an appropriate damages amount if liability is found, as opposed to the various theories espoused by Ho that result in multi-million dollar recoveries. Due to outstanding issues of fact and law, it is impossible to predict the outcome at this time; however, after consulting legal counsel, the Company is confident that it will prevail in this litigation, since it did not have a contract with Mr. Ho and he did not disclose any commercially-sensitive information under any mutual nondisclosure agreement that was used to structure any joint venture with energy providers. Trial is set to begin on May 26, 2022. During the quarter ended September 30, 2021, the Company and certain of its executives received a subpoena to produce documents and communications concerning the Hardin, Montana data center facility described in our Form 8-K dated October 13, 2020. On October 6, 2020, the Company entered into a series of agreements with multiple parties to design and build a data center for up to 100-megawatts in Hardin, MT. In conjunction therewith, the Company filed a Current Report on Form 8-K on October 13, 2020. The 8-K discloses that, pursuant to a Data Facility Services Agreement, the Company issued 6,000,000 shares of restricted Common Stock, in transactions exempt from registration under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. We understand that the SEC may be investigating whether or not there may have been any violations of the federal securities law. We are cooperating with the SEC. On December 17, 2021, a putative class action complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the District Court of Nevada, against the company and present and former senior management. The Complaint alleges securities fraud related to the disclosures of an SEC investigation previously made by the Company on November 15, 2021. Plaintiff Tad Schaltre served the Complaint on the Company on March 1, 2022. On February 18, 2022, a shareholder derivative complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, against current and former members of the Company’s board of directors and senior management. The complaint is based on allegations substantially similar to the allegations in the December 17, 2021 putative securities class action complaint, related to the Company’s disclosure of an SEC investigation previously made by the Company on November 15, 2021. On March 4, 2022, the Complaint was served on the Company. ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES. Not applicable. 39 PART II