Fraud, conspiracy, attempted murder and a partner deprived of tens of millions of dollars are all alleged between restaurant scion Chris Perry, his restaurant group Perry’s Restaurants and a former consultant.

The claims and counterclaims filed in Texas courts since early December read like alternate histories. 

Craig Aumann, the consultant, filed suit in early December saying Perry, David Crawford and Perry’s Restaurants employees worked to deprive him of an ownership stake in Vantage Point Global Corp., a company set up to farm and export cannabis from Costa Rica.

READ NEXT: Austin real estate owner under federal investigation as lawsuits allege $100M fraud

The initial petition was filed in state District Court in Austin, where Perry lives. It was later moved to Business Court in Austin. 

Aumann’s lawsuit says he was initially hired as a consultant to assist fundraising for the venture but was asked to assume the CEO title after a falling out with a previous leader. He relocated to the South American country and oversaw the farm’s setup and obtained necessary government licenses. He says he moved to the country full time in October 2023 for a salary of $100,000 a year and $15,000 a month in expenses — but also with a significant equity stake. 

Crawford was a co-founder and, according to the suit, Perry was the first and main investor. It says he obtained 51% of the company through financial outlays from accounts tied to Perry’s Restaurants Limited, the Houston company behind Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, CARVE American Grille, Verdad True Modern Mexican and the original Perry & Sons Market & Grille. It has operations in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and eight other states.

Seventy acres of Costa Rican farmland was the main source of cannabis for Vantage Point. After a year and repeated offers from outsiders to purchase the business, the last of which was for $45 million, Aumann says, Perry, Crawford and others conspired to push him out.

Aumann’s attorney estimates the operation is now worth in excess of $100 million, resulting in a loss of $24 million for his client, who said he had a near 25% ownership stake.

“He went down. He lived in Costa Rica. We’ve got WhatsApp messages. He was the one who interacted with all the government officials, Jared Kovar, Aumann’s attorney, said in an interview. ‘Craig was the one who hired the team. He ran all the operations,’ 

But after returning to Costa Rica from Austin in November 2024, his access to the property, Vantage Point business email accounts and servers was revoked. The company would pay his salary until February 2025, according to court documents, but Perry and others had rewritten his role to suggest he had only been a consultant without any ownership rights.  

Aumann’s complaint alleges fraud, tortious interference and business disparagement and other alleged misdeeds.

The set of allegations laid out in Aumann’s lawsuit are a fiction, Chris Perry’s attorneys say. Most egregious, in Perry’s Restaurants telling, is connecting Aumann to the company.

“The plaintiff has no connection to Perry’s Restaurants, and there is no factual or legal basis for naming the company in this frivolous lawsuit,” Rick Henderson, chief operating officer of Perry’s Restaurants, said in an emailed statement. An attorney for the chain said he anticipated the company would be removed from the lawsuit in coming hearings. 

In a countersuit filed last week, attorneys for Chris Perry as an individual denied nearly everything alleged. They describe Aumann as a rogue consultant who misrepresented and defrauded Perry and Crawford — at times threatening physical violence — and allege Aumann at one point was arrested by Costa Rican authorities for attempted murder. 

“That’s just throwing stuff against the wall and hoping the smear stays,” Kovar said of the allegations against his client.

Attorneys for Perry say in court filings that Aumann misled Crawford, a Vantage Point Global co-founder, about his relationship with Perry, saying Aumann had claimed power of attorney over the finances of the business.

“Mr Aumann continually misrepresented his authority, threatened physical violence against others affiliated with VPG and their families, forged or procured documents under duress … wasted and misappropriated funds and used VPG’s money to pay his personal credit card bills,” their countersuit says.

Perry says Aumann coerced Crawford into signing backdated documents making Aumann CEO and giving him nearly a quarter of the company. It alleges Aumann hired unqualified employees, at times giving jobs to family members and awarding contracts that did not benefit the company. 

According to the counterclaims, Aumann installed himself in Costa Rica and executed an “internal hostile takeover.” They say his behavior was erratic and unprofessional, threatening to fire people with some regularity. 

Kovar, Aumann’s attorney, dismisses many of the allegations and said he views the counterclaims as validation of the fact his client was not just a consultant but running things as CEO. 

“How is Craig allowed to do all the things that they say he was able to do if he wasn’t in the position of CEO? It just doesn’t make any sense,” Kovar said.

He says Vantage Point Global through Perry was not paying his client on time, forcing him to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in personal debt until he was paid.

And he called the threats of violence alleged in Perry’s suit afactually inaccurate. 

Perry’s attorney’s said Aumann “allegedly attacked” a former Vantage Point employee with a metal pipe, attempting to reclaim a truck the former employee had refused to return. The suit claims he was arrested and the company spent $90,000 on attorneys to defend him. 

Kovar acknowledged there was a situation in Costa Rica involving one of the vehicles and a handful of Vantage Point employees. “As far as the way it’s portrayed in their documents is completely wrong,” he said.

Now, attorneys for Perry say, Aumann is actively fundraising around a project called 190 Ranch that is duplicative of Vantage Point. They say they seen his pitch presentation and their countersuit alleges Aumann stole their business plan, detailing dates and computer behaviors they say prove it.

Kovar said Aumann is researching setting up another farm but is not actively soliciting funds.