Legal Question in Business Law in New York

Re: Sale of shares in a company that does not exist

How long ago did this take place? Does this person have assets? Do you know where he can be found?

It sounds like the classic ponzi scheme--except that he never paid anyone. As far as criminal charges, you should notify the DA's office. That said, you should try to get an "in" to talk to at the DA's office, as the DA's office in each county is overwhelmed with work and without that "in" your claim may not get much attention.

As far as lawsuit to recover your investments, many questions need to be answered. I'd be happy to answer them. Please call me. Good luck.

Re: Sale of shares in a company that does not exist

Oh, geez. Your guy would make Tom DeLay and all the Enron crowd proud.

It's up to the US Attorney's Office (since he crossed state and international lines in recruiting investors) to file criminal charges in such a matter, and to determine what those charges might be. Also, the State Attorneys General in each state where an investor resides or has a principal place of business could file criminal charges within that state; again, it is up to that office as to what criminal charges to file. Again also, the Canadians may have a cause of criminal action against him since he went into Canada to recruit investors. It is up to them what charges to bring there.

Note that in theory he can be tried for the same criminal matter by the feds and by each state where one of you lives or has a principal place of business. Thus, he can, in theory, face as many criminal proceedings as there are states that he went into plus the feds and Canada.

It's up to the investors to report him to the relevant AG offices, the FBI, your state police and the relevant Canadian agency or agencies. Tell them your story and let them decide what charges to bring.

Criminal charges will get the investors nothing but the deep satisfaction of seeing this guy go to prison, possibly for a long time. However, I presume you are also interested in recovering some or all of your investment; $550-700K is a chunk of change. You probably may each sue him civilly in your own state, or maybe even in federal court, to recover your own funds; talk with your attorneys about the possible theories of the suit. If you sue him as a group, talk with your attorneys -- and each investor should be represented individually by an attorney to protect each investor's individual rights and avoid any conflict of interest situations that might arise and force an attorney who represents more than one investor to have to withdraw from the case -- about what forum to bring the suit in.

When civil matters and criminal matters intersect like this, the statute of limitations can jump out and preclude a civil suit if the civil suit is not filed timely. This is possibly a preventable outcome; talk with your attorneys.

If your guy is found not guilty criminally, that does NOT preclude your proceeding with the civil matter; the OJ Simpson matter is the famous case on point of that principle: he was found criminally not guilty but civilly liable for the "OJ Murders."

If you need further assistance with this matter, please contact my office directly.

Good luck.

THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND IS NOT INTENDED, NOR SHOULD IT BE CONSTRUED, AS LEGAL ADVICE. FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE ABOUT YOUR PARTICULAR SITUATION, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.