A mysterious investor in London asked a bankruptcy judge in Delaware to stop selling EV startup assets to its CEO, calling it a "flawed" process.

Charles Garson, a British investor who has no obvious relationship with the EV startup, provided $20 million to Canoo's assets, according to a filing. A lawyer representing Garson filed a motion Friday to revoke the deal, claiming he offered Canoo CEO Anthony Aquila a "superior offer" to bid for just $4 million in cash assets. (Aquila's bid also includes a loan of about $11 million Canoo, credited to his own financial company.)

According to filing reports, the bankruptcy trustee told Garson that he would consider his proposal and that he would not complete the details until the end of April. Gasson claimed that two days after he was told, the trustee “went forward to the sales hearing” and sold Canoo’s assets to Aquila. The sale ends on April 11th. The bankruptcy trustee did not respond to a request for comment.

Garson is not alone in protesting for sale. Harbinger Motors, an electric vehicle truck startup founded by many former Canoo employees, objected to the sale until it was finally completed. The bankrupt judge overturned the objection. Harbinger appealed.

There is little information about Garson Online. His LinkedIn profile states that he is based in London and is involved in real estate investments. According to the country's business registry, he is famously a director of Garland Holdings Limited, a real estate investment company.

The motion for evacuation does not explain why Garson is interested in Canoo or whether he has been involved in other investors. Garson provided a statement in support of the motion for evacuation, which included 23 exhibitions. But all of these documents are sealed. Garson's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“(Garson) believes that he has enough time to submit a superior bid based on communication with trustees and attorneys. According to such communication, Movant does not object to the sale or formally oppose it.
According to the documents, a competitive bid was submitted while continuing to determine his offer and requesting clarification from the trustee. ”

The application reads: "Despite actually making an apparent offer to him, the trustee decided to seek court approval for the transaction." Aquila's attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

It was revealed earlier this month that as many as eight parties signed an NDA and evaluated Canoo's assets before the sale. He said only a few who were almost bidding, including a group that the bankruptcy trustees said, could draw attention to the Foreign Investment Commission in the United States because it (unspecified) "foreign ownership." It is not clear that Garson's bid was referring to by the trustee.