Andiamo Corp. (ANDI)

[janice shell]

Since you're an attorney, perhaps you can answer a question...

We know part, though not all, of the Comet Core story. The project leader and apparent company president was Prashant Urs, according to Indiegogo:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/comet-world-s-first-floating-smartphone#/

It first tried to crowdfund the project with Kickstarter, but switched to Indiegogo. It failed to achieve its goals initially, according to several who followed the story:

Funding stalled at around just $30,000 until just days before the campaign looked set to fail, when suddenly a large number of new backers appeared with nothing but praise for the phone to push it past its $100,000 goal.

https://www.androidauthority.com/6-crowdfunded-devices-were-still-waiting-for-703433/

It raised about $260K in all.

The company initially announced the phone would ship in early 2016. It began to take pre-orders, and charged buyers immediately. No one ever received a phone. Two years later, it's clear from the Indiegogo comment section for Comet Core that many people are angry because they haven't received promised refunds. It's impossible to say how many; though there're nearly 3000 comments, obviously not all are from unique visitors, and not all are likely to be complaints.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/comet-world-s-first-floating-smartphone#/comments

Reputable businesses don't charge customers until the product is shipped; I suppose this story is a cautionary tale for those who took a chance.

My question is: Who, if anyone, is liable for those customers' losses? It seems the only funds the company itself ever had were those raised in the Indiegogo campaign.