Lawsuits by VeroBlue dismissed by judge in recent ruling

Hall, Wulf and Rea’s cleared of charges

A federal court has dismissed all of VeroBlue Farms, USA claims against four of the company founders. The suit was brought by the final investor Otto Happel, a German citizen and a resident of Switzerland on behalf of VeroBlue.

The suits filed in 2022 by Veroblue Farms, USA, Inc. against four co-defendents; Leslie A. Wulf, Bruce A. Hall, John E. Rea and James Rea, (Founders) who were initial founders of the company, were dismissed in a judge's ruling filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Sept. 3, 2026.

The case was heard by the U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr, who opened the findings of fact and conclusions of law, a 175 page document with the following statement:

"Some companies go belly up, like VeroBlue Farms USA Inc. (Veroblue). And some European billionaires take the bait without checking the hook. When that happens, the Court must have a five day bench trial to untangle the line."

The judge went on to state that ..."Vero Blue failed to prove any of the claims' damages with particularity needed for a bench trial. Accordingly, the Court dismisses VeroBlue's claims and orders the Founders to file an appropriate motion for attorney's fees no later than 70 days after the issuance of this order."

According to the testimony during the trial Vero Blue initially had a business model that was developed as a "grower model" concept, but after subsequent re-organizations, with new investors, emerged as just Vero Blue when Happel, who through the investments of his family office, Luserve AG, and his companies Alder Aqua, Ltd., and Amstar Group, LLC, took over the business and changed the business to a "corporate-owned" model.

The judges ruling included this statement: "the Court concludes that VeroBlue failed to present sufficient evidence to prevail on any of its claims. Accordingly, the Court dismisses VeroBlue’s claims. Conversely, the Court enters judgement in favor of the Founders on their counterclaims and are ordered to file an appropriate motion for attorney's fees no later than 70 days after this order. The Court will vacate that deadline if either party appeals."

Within the findings of fact and conclusions of law, Judge Billings stated "…After the bankruptcy, Alder brought this lawsuit on behalf of VeroBlue-not on behalf of the entities that invested in and/or loaned money to VeroBlue. In fact, the only business that VeroBlue has conducted since the bankruptcy has been to litigate this lawsuit. In other words, VeroBlue moved from raising fish to filing a fishy lawsuit."

VeroBlue operated in Webster City between September 5 2014 and 2018, after purchasing Iowa's First in 2015 from Mark and Jeff Nelson of Blairsburg. VeroBlue and affiliated entities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 21, 2018.