21. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Debenture principal repayments

The following table summarizes the future principal payments related to our outstanding debt as of December 31, 2023:

SUMMARY OF FUTURE PRINCIPAL PAYMENTS OUTSTANDING DEBT 

Contingencies

Litigation

On August 11, 2023, AgriFORCE’s former CEO, Ingo Wilhelm Mueller filed a Notice of Civil Claim in which he alleges that AgriFORCE wrongfully terminated his employment without notice, in breach of the parties’ underlying employment agreement. Mr. Mueller alleges to have suffered damages including, among other things, a loss of base salary of $473,367 CAD per annum and damages from not receiving common stock of AgriFORCE equivalent in value to $468,313 CAD. AgriFORCE’s position is that Mr. Mueller was terminated for ‘just cause’ because he breached his fiduciary duty to act in AgriFORCE’s best interest by, among other things, submitting a sizeable bid for the acquisition of a company without first obtaining Board approval. In doing so, Mr. Mueller misrepresented AgriFORCE’s financial standing and forged, or instructed others to forge, a document by affixing the electronic signature of AgriFORCE’s CFO.

As at December 31, 2023, the parties were in the discovery stage of litigation. AgriFORCE has produced relevant documents to Mr. Mueller, and is awaiting Mr. Mueller’s production of relevant documents. The parties are also in the process of scheduling examinations for discovery. Management is instructing counsel to advance the matter given the relative strength of AgriFORCE’s case.

The likelihood of an unfavorable outcome is relatively low given the facts supporting AgriFORCE’s ‘for cause’ termination of Mr. Mueller as well as the significant expense that Mr. Mueller would have to incur to advance this matter to trial.

On September 31, 2023, Stronghold filed a Complaint with the Superior Court of California for Breach of Contract; Breach of the Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing; and Common Count: Goods and Services Rendered in relation to the purchase and sale agreement for the Coachella property (Note 4). Stronghold alleges that AgriFORCE breached the PSA by failing to deposit certain stocks certificates into Escrow, failing to pay amounts owed for its costs incurred in connection with the Sellers Work, and for terminating the PSA despite Stronghold’s performance of the Sellers Work. Stronghold is claiming $451,684.00 plus interest in damages based on invoices it provided. AgriFORCE will dispute, among other things, the amount and invoices, estimating approximately $230,000 as Stronghold’s true expenses that may be claimed. The Company filed their answer on February 26, 2024. The trial date has not been set for this case.