In depositions, accounts of the secret letter and the strange shareholder paperwork conflicted sharply.

Some records had been deleted from ordinary email folders, but backups preserved enough correspondence to reconstruct key decisions.

The court issued orders safeguarding factory records and limiting attempts to enforce the challenged ownership document while the litigation proceeded.

Later, Eastgate agreed to a negotiated civil resolution that included repayment of significant funds and withdrawal of its claim to voting control.

The agreement did not answer every question about the people involved.