According to the Florida lawsuit, Swider used the credentials of Orlando's stolen Mailchimp account and a listserv on March 5 to send an email to ARC II investors in the Truth Social transaction, saying that Orlando's ARC II and attacked DWAC's management and accused them of involvement in another lawsuit. It was submitted to DWAC in the previous month.
“Mr. Orlando's leadership brought our common interests with DWAC directly under the jurisdiction of the SEC, the Department of Justice, resulting in lengthy delays and costly investigations,” Swider wrote. “By filing this lawsuit against DWAC, Mr. Orlando is destroying the value that could be realized from the consummation of a business combination by the Company and its members.”
Swider then invited his fellow investors to join a series of Zoom calls, saying, “Building on leadership that continues to push us down a path of misinformation, hidden information, and self-cleansing, we “Understand your risk exposure.” In the same email cited in court documents, Swider added: “I don't have any disrespect for Patrick. I believe he's a great human being, honest, and hard-working. He looks out for your best interests. He's good-looking. is cool. I like him. Nothing in this email is meant to be defamatory. He has done a great job as a leader. Patrick: “You're the best!!”
In the Florida lawsuit, Mr. Bennessea alleges that Mr. Swider sought to control two companies involved in funding the Truth Social Deal. “And in order to gain control of ARC II and complete the takeover of the entire DWAC enterprise, Swider sought to obtain confidential information about ARC II and its investors. ” was stored in an electronic storage account that was created by the company,” the lawsuit alleges.
Benessere said in its lawsuit that it paid a computer forensics expert $6,000 to investigate the hacking allegations and that Mr. Swider and Mr. Cano have not given up access to their Box accounts.
Mr. Cano is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Swider “promised” Mr. Cano an “exorbitant” compensation for his role as DWAC chairman and for Mr. Cano's participation in accessing Mr. Orlando's Box account. Cano eventually made him chairman of DWAC. When asked for comment, Cano referred WIRED to Eric Swider.
In an interview with WIRED, Swider denied all the allegations in the lawsuit and said public documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission contradict many of the commission's claims. Swider said he never hired Cano as an assistant and that Orlando voted in favor of the compensation Cano would receive.
“I don’t think he ever let go. [of] The fact that I took his place,” Swider told WIRED. “I don't know why it makes him so angry.”
The Benessere Investment Group lawsuit illustrates a bitter feud between Orlando and Swider, who were longtime business partners. Swider previously served on the board of Benessere, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In addition to this lawsuit and another from Orlando in Delaware that claims ARC II should receive more stock as part of the Truth Social deal, other lawsuits related to the startup include There are several. Early Trump Media employees Wes Moss and Andy Litinsky recently sued the company in Delaware court, accusing it of diluting their stock. Shortly after, Trump Media countersued Moss and Liczynski in Florida state court, alleging that they mismanaged the deal and delayed the deal.
Orlando is also currently facing another lawsuit filed by DWAC. The lawsuit, filed in March, alleges that Orlando intentionally delayed the Truth Social transaction and should have its stock written down as a result.
Benessere Group and Orlando did not respond to requests for comment. Swider, Kano and Swider's advisory firm, Renatus Advisors, which is also named as a defendant, have not yet responded to the lawsuit in court.
