Port officials recently awarded Vision Industries Corp. a contract to retrofit the port’s underperforming electric trucks with hydrogen fuel-cell technology. But it comes as the tiny El Segundo startup is in a legal battle against two former executives it claims defrauded the company with a worthless technology license.
Formerly a consulting company, Vision got into the fuel cell business in late 2008 after acquiring licenses for an electric drive system and hydrogen fuel-cell technology from Ice Conversions Inc., a Malibu firm headed by Lawrence Weisdorn and Donald Hejmanowski.
In return, the two men were made officers at Vision. Weisdorn was named chairman and chief operating officer and given an annual salary of $300,000 in addition to 14.7 million shares of stock in the small public company. Hejmanowski became vice president of communications and director, and received 7 million shares of stock. Ice Conversions got an additional 2.3 million shares and $134,000 in cash.
But in May of last year, both men abruptly resigned and kept at least half of their shares, which currently trade at 20 cents each. Vision alleged in an April lawsuit that the two defrauded the company and that the license was of no value. It alleges further that Weisdorn and Hejmanowski secretly worked for a rival startup, Costa Mesa-based Force Fuels Inc., which was also developing hydrogen-electric hybrid vehicles. The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit seeks $385,000 and the return of all shares.
“Weisdorn and Hejmanowski caused Ice to issue a license to Vision which effectively was a sham in an effort to merely extract an outsized salary and share issuance to each of them,” the lawsuit states. “At present, there is absolutely no value to the original Vision license.”
Rudy Tapia, vice president of business development at Vision, said the litigation has no effect on the company’s day-to-day business. According to Tapia, the company gets most of its parts, including fuel cells, from third parties, while its seven employees have expertise in software and battery management technology.
Weisdorn and Hejmanowski both worked at Vision when the Port of Los Angeles purchased its first hybrid truck in March 2010.
John Holmes, deputy director of the port, said due diligence had been done.
“Most every company we deal with is in some sort of litigation or another,” Holmes said.
Further complicating matters, Weisdorn filed for bankruptcy late last year and has a long line of creditors. His attorney, Michael Sofris, said Weisdorn intends to oppose Vision’s claim but declined to comment further.
Hejmanowski could not be reached for comment.
