Aquamamma founder allegedly told investors valuation would double

Investors, including Daniel Brechner, Mr Bates’ limousine driver, allege they were told in June last year that Aquamamma would be sold “in six months” and “its valuation is doubling”. “In fact, a sale for Aquamamma had not been agreed and there was no basis for the statement that Aquamamma’s value would double in six months or at all,” the court filings allege.

As part of various funding agreements with investors, Aquamamma and Aurum+ were allegedly “required to provide each shareholder an annual report, including annual financial statements ... within three months of the end of the financial year, and an annual budget at the end of each financial year”. Those documents were allegedly never provided, and statements about valuations were “misleading or deceptive” and made it appear “a significantly more capitalised and valuable company than was ... the case”.

Another investor, Andrew Cummins, was allegedly told by Ms Gibson in 2019 that Aquamamma had annual earnings before interest and tax “from its royalties” of some $US16 million. That was not true, Mr Cummins claims.

For years, Mr Bates reassured backers that their investments were safe. During a meal at Otto’s Restaurant in Sydney in August 2018, Mr Bates told Mr Cummins that he would buy back shares in Hi Relief “if necessary” and said words to the effect of “no one has ever lost money investing with me”, according to the documents filed with the Supreme Court.

In one agreement, the investors allege, Hi Relief promised to repay the investment in full if it had not realised $US1 million in revenue within 12 months. The company did not, but the investment was not repaid.

“Know that I gave you my word on this, and it is something I stand by – no shareholder has lost money with me, and I am not about to let what has transpired change this,” he allegedly wrote in an email to Mr Cummins in December as investor disquiet about a lack of returns grew.

Ms Gibson has previously disputed her involvement in Aurum+, telling the Financial Review she was surprised to find out she was described as the company’s chief investment officer in investor presentations. The investors who have filed the new claim in the Supreme Court allege Ms Gibson was the chief executive of Aquamamma, the chief investment officer of Aurum+, the chief operating officer of a related company registered in Singapore and known as 7 Trinity and the co-founder of HR Health.

“I supported Robert with some minor operational jobs such as packaging and finding logistics and co-packer suppliers in the US,” Ms Gibson said earlier this year. “I wasn’t an employee, and I wasn’t paid for this work, I was purely supporting him with operational items as his partner at the time.”

The couple met when Ms Gibson was selling private jet packages for VisaJet in Hong Kong in 2017. In some pitch decks, Mr Bates claims to be the co-founder of Skin Laundry, a Los Angeles-based facials company, and that he “exited” in 2015. However, the company says he was only a contractor.

Mr Bates, Ms Gibson and the companies are yet to file a defence.