Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

I fired a property management company in writing (sole proprietorship, licensed, california) for theft and fraud, filed a complaint with the department of real estate and demanded that the manager/owner turn the security deposit over for the new tenants who he had just leased my house to (they had not yet moved in). Manager kept most of the money himself for bogus reasons. I filed a police report for grand theft and had the would-be tenants sign statement saying they were aware the manager had taken their money and refused to turn it over to me, and that their next step was to file a police report. They chose instead to request a charge-back from their credit card company. A week later they decided not to lease the house after all. Now---a month later, they are threatening to sue me for the full security deposit. I believe they were successful in getting the money charged back and are double dipping. The contract they signed was for a holding fee which would become their security deposit if they signed a lease and moved in. This contract was with the property manager's company, representing his interests. I did not sign the agreement and my name is not on it, but my property is referenced. The manager had done nothing illegal to the wouldbe tenants until after I fired him, when he refused to turn the money over and henceforth was acting on his own behalf. Neither the manager nor the tenants have produced proof in the form of a credit card statement or receipt, that they paid a dime or didn't get a chargeback, despite my repetitive requests. I strongly suspect the tenants are attempting to defraud their own CC company and will continue to sue me for the rest. Question: What is my legal obligation? Is there anything I can do now to minimize my responsibility for the management company's actions ?

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