Business Fraud
Our trial lawyers have been extraordinarily successful in fighting deceptive and fraudulent business conduct. We have recovered damages for our clients who were cheated out of millions of dollars by both large and small businesses in Georgia.
Below are some of our notes on recent cases and trends in business fraud and deceptive business practices in Georgia.
On Monday, March 21st, a federal jury in Columbus, Georgia returned a $21 million verdict against PHH Mortgage Company (operating as Coldwell Banker) in favor of 29-year old U.S. Army Sergeant David Brash.
In his suit, Brash claimed that the mortgage company had falsely reported his account to credit bureaus as seriously delinquent, and then refused to correct the mistake or even answer his questions, putting him on hold in foreign call centers for thirty minutes to nearly an hour at ...
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AT&T has recently come under fire for allegedly failing to pay certain employees for overtime as is required by federal law.
In a Georgia lawsuit filed last month, AT&T employees claimed that the company broke the law by classifying first-level managers as exempt from overtime pay. Such lawsuits have increased in Georgia and around the country due to a change in federal regulations as well as a struggling economy.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story.
Overtime pay is codified in ...
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Our firm was recently hired to represent the owner of a small heating and air conditioning business after an employee of BellSouth Advertising and Publishing Corporation fraudulently entered him into a contract.
We brought suit against BellSouth Advertising and Publishing (BAPCO) and its employee in October alleging identity fraud and forgery. We hope that this lawsuit will hold BAPCO accountable for any fraudulent practices and act as a stark reminder to corporations that their customers have rights and should ...
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On Friday, a Watkinsville, Georgia physician assistant, Ulys Randall Riner, pleaded guilty in Newton County to running a Ponzi scheme in which he stole more than $4.5 million from investors. Prosecutors believe that Riner stole from more than 20 Georgians, and that most of the victims were his friends.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story.
Riner was arrested in 2006 for using a strategy called “factoring” in which he sold fraudulent promissory notes to investors. Specifically, Riner would ...
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The Illinois Attorney General filed suit against Wells Fargo last week for discriminatory and illegal mortgage lending practices against blacks and Latinos.
CNN.com has the story.
Lisa Madigan, the Attorney General of Illinois, believes that Wells Fargo has turned Latino and African-American communities into hotbeds of subprime lending. She stated that the high foreclosure rates in these communities are a direct consequence of the illegal practices committed by Wells Fargo. Madigan also alleged that white borrowers with equivalent incomes ...
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This is one of our cases. The complaint was filed last week.
Our clients, a Ringgold, Georgia couple, have filed suit in Floyd County against a fire and water damage repair company for allegedly hiring an illegal immigrant who stole more than $10,000. The couple claims that the employee stole personal and financial information at their home which was then used to withdraw large sums of money.
The Rome News Tribune has the story here.
The couple experienced a fire ...
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The Georgia Court of Appeals recently had to determine if a defamation suit which alleged that a reporter published a plaintiff’s poor job performance should survive summary judgment. The court found that it should, since a jury could find that there was defamation.
In Gettner v. Fitzgerald, the plaintiff, Gettner, sued VNU Business Media, Inc. for defamation, because of a publication by VNU in which it was revealed that Gettner had been demoted based on poor performance. Gettner also ...
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A Cobb County Superior Court judge awarded $2.5 million to Susan Farhadi, a woman who was defrauded by Vesta Strategies.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has the story.
Apparently, the lawsuit alleged civil fraud claims, RICO and breach of fiduciary duty. Because Vesta is no longer in business, it is unclear whether the lawsuit was defended, or whether the judge simply made a decision on damages after entering a default judgment against the company.
As the economy continues to worsen, it is ...
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Golden West Financial, the mortgage lender acquired by Wachovia Bank in 2006, is being investigated by the United States Department of Justice for fraudulent mortgage lending practices. The "preliminary investigation" was reported by the Associated Press and picked up by many news outlets, including Forbes.
The gist of the investigation appears to be allegations that the company engaged in predatory lending practices by misrepresenting the terms of certain loans, falsifying documents and persuading borrowers to obtain loans that were clearly ...
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The Georgia Court of Appeals has decided a case involving specific performance of a shareholder agreement that may be important to small and closely held corporations in Georgia.
In Clausen v. Intercat, the Court of Appeals agreed with a trial court order which granted summary judgment to Intercat Inc. for specific performance of a shareholder agreement against three former employees. When the employees were hired, they entered into a contract which required them to sell back any shares they had ...
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