From a Moroccan villa to the courtroom: how StrongRoom AI’s good times went bad

Court filings that allege fraud at the tech start-up paint a picture of company funds being used to fund a lavish lifestyle of foreign trips and fine dining.

Max Mito’s business trip to luxury villas in Morocco was a red flag to finance staff. EVP’s Misha Saul called in the cops after investing. Michaela Pollock

Amelia McGuire and Tess Bennett

Apr 5, 2025 – 5.00am

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A now deleted Instagram post by StrongRoom AI’s lead designer Isabella Jorgensen in September 2023 captioned “Peter’s Moroccan extravaganza” with a brown love heart emoji left members of the company’s finance department seething.

Jorgensen had just returned from a well-documented trip with her boyfriend and boss Max Mito, the chief executive of StrongRoom, and Peter Bruce-Clark, one of the company’s directors.

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Amelia McGuireBusiness reporterAmelia McGuire covers technology from the AFR's Sydney newsroom. She was previously the aviation, tourism and gambling reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Tess BennettTechnology reporterTess Bennett is a technology reporter with The Australian Financial Review, based in the Brisbane newsroom. She was previously the work & careers reporter.