Item
5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of
Certain Officers.
On
December 15, 2022, Michael Cao tendered his resignation as a member of the Board of Directors of Bitech Technologies Corporation
(the “Company”). Mr. Cao advised the Company that his resignation was for personal reasons.
Following
the resignation of Mr. Cao, the Board appointed Gregory Trimarche, Esq. as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors on December
21, 2022.
Mr.
Trimarche, age 59, has practiced law for over 30 years in the areas of environmental and energy law and a wide range of other
governmental and regulatory fields, as well as finance, intellectual property, general commercial litigation, and strategic planning
and risk avoidance. His work focuses on emerging companies in the renewable energy and cleantech industries where he identifies and evaluates
early stage companies seeking to go public, strategic acquisition targets, strategic partnership opportunities, and other investment
opportunities in the energy sector. Greg’s experience also covers federal and state energy and environmental regulatory programs,
as well as the various governmental incentive programs relating to the energy and utility industries. Greg has been of counsel to the
law firm Cooksey Toolen Gage Duffy Woog since 2017 and prior to that has been engaged in the private practice of law since
1989. In 2010, Greg co-founded Sustain SoCal (formerly, CleanTech OC), the clean technology trade association for Orange County,
California and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from 2010 to 2015. In additions, Greg is a frequent speaker at cleantech industry conferences.
Greg
is a past member of the Board of Directors of OCTANe (https://octaneoc.org), the fundraising and networking organization for Orange
County’s technology industries. Also, since 2015, he has been an officer and director of GST Factoring, Inc. (“GST”),
a company formerly engaged in electronic payment processing services to law firms that represented student loan debtors.
Greg
earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from the University of Kansas and a Juris Doctor from University of Kansas
School of Law.
In
August 2020, in connection with an action by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the “Bureau”) against GST, Greg and others, Greg
consented to a permanent restraining order and ban on his participation in the debt-relief business, a ban on telemarketing consumer
financial products or services, collecting payments from and providing assistance for consumers, use of consumer information, pay a $25,000
fine and cooperate with the Bureau in connection with its investigation and litigation related to this matter (the “Final Judgment”).
Greg denied any wrong doing in this lawsuit and consented to the Financial Judgment to avoid the substantial costs involved in protracted
litigation.
On
December 21, 2022, the Company and Mr. Trimache entered into an Independent Contractor Agreement (the “Independent Contractor
Agreement”) whereby Mr. Trimache agreed to serve as a member of the Company’s board of directors. The Independent Contractor
Agreement may be terminated by either party on 15 days prior written notice without cause or five days after written notice in the event
of a breach of the agreement by either party.
As
Compensation for Mr. Trimache’s service to the Company as a director, the Company awarded him an option to purchase 5,000,000 shares
of the Company’s Common Stock (the “Option Shares”) at an exercise price of $0.07 per share (the “Stock Option”).
The Stock Option vests as to 25% of the Option Shares on each December 21 so long as Mr. Trimache is providing services to the
Company or one of its subsidiaries; provided, however, the vesting
is subject to acceleration such that if Mr. Trimache is terminated from his role without cause (as defined in the Stock Option) the number
of shares subject to the Stock Option in the year of termination shall vest plus the number of shares that would have vested in the following
year. In the event Mr. Trimache’s service as a member of the Board is terminated with cause, the number of shares subject to the
Stock Option in the year of termination shall vest.
The
Company confirms that (1) there is no family relationship between Mr. Trimache and any director or executive officer of the Company,
(2) there was no arrangement or understanding between Mr. Trimache and any other person pursuant to which he was elected to his position
with the Company, and (3) there is no transaction between Mr. Trimache and the Company that would require disclosure under Item 404(a)
of Regulation S-K.