Fisker founder, former directors sued by investor over collapse

Henrik, Fisker

Fisker Automotive Inc. founder Henrik Fisker and the hybrid carmaker's former directors were sued by investor Atlas Capital Management LP over $2 million in losses it allegedly suffered in the bankrupt company's collapse.

Fisker misled investors about its financial health by failing to disclose problems with a government loan and keeping secret a 2011 safety recall while the company raised money, according to the complaint filed Dec. 27 in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del.

Had Atlas known the truth, it "would not have purchased or otherwise acquired its Fisker securities, or, if it had purchased such securities, it would not have done so at the artificially inflated prices which it paid," lawyers for Atlas said in the filing.

Fisker, based in Anaheim, Calif., filed for bankruptcy Nov. 22 listing assets of as much as $500 million and debt of as much as $1 billion in papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

Fisker with the beautiful Karma he created

Henrik Fisker, who founded the company in 2007, told Congress at a hearing in April that safety recalls, a bankrupt battery supplier and shipments lost to Hurricane Sandy contributed to the company's financial woes. Fisker plans to sell itself to Hybrid Tech Holdings LLC.

Atlas claims in its complaint that Fisker continued to raise capital while deliberately issuing "materially false and misleading statements." Company officials hid information on the recall of 239 Fisker Karma sedans in December 2011 until a day after a round of financing closed, Atlas said.

Anita-Marie Laurie, a spokeswoman for Fisker with Sitrick & Co., declined to comment on the lawsuit. Atlas is asking a judge to order its purchase of Fisker securities rescinded and its money returned. AutoNews.com/Bloomberg News