> I just got told Phase 5 was actually two companies:
> Only the production branch was a GmbH.
That's probably not the reason for this, though.
The letter mentions the "vorsaetzlich begangene unerlaubte Handlung" (i.e. a prohibited action undertaken intentionally). Probably related to taking pre-orders with the promise of keeping the money in an escrow account ("Sperrkonto" in German) while in reality the money was injected into the company, and thus lost.
The limited liability protection of a "GmbH" (similar in many ways to the US's "LLC") is conditional on following a number of rules; Once you break the rules, you may become personally liable. Taking money for non-existent products under false pretenses is likely to be enough to get the protections lifted.... And of course the mentioned clause of the relevant law requires of the creditor (here: the people who ordered G3/G4 cards) to provide reasons as to why they have a claim --- so sending this letter does not mean "you have a claim", but "you are hereby invited to argue that you have a claim".
Another possibility is that Carda could be liable not as one of the share holders of Phase5, but as an executive; Given that he was in charge when the company did something that was probably illegal, there is a chance that he, personally, might be seen to have done this. And as the courts are dealing with his debts now, anyway, the resulting liabilities would have to be taken into account.
