Amended Complaint in Ginn Lawsuit Reveals More
139-page amended complaint is more than twice the size of the original. Meanwhile, Bobby Ginn is also slapped with $1.5 million judgment from his brief personal foray into NASCAR.
Palm Coast, FL – October 18, 2009 – Bobby Ginn is reportedly facing 30 lawsuits, most stemming from the collapse of his real estate empire. One resulted from his hasty departure from NASCAR shortly after his personal foray into that scene. It recently ended with a $1.5 million judgment against Bobby (plus interest and plaintiff’s legal expenses). An amended complaint was filed Thursday in a suit that lists the Ginn Company, Lubert Adler, and ESI Living along with three major banks; SunTrust, Wachovia, and Fifth Third.
This suit stands out from others by its inclusion of major banks (SunTrust, Wachovia, and Fifth Third), charging that they along with appraisers hired by them were full participants in a scheme to artificially inflate property values and secure loan approvals at the inflated amount.
The amended complaint provides a great deal more detail than the original. It includes many specific allegations of fact; some astounding. The complaint alleges "Defendants victimized and misled Plaintiffs and the Class as to the value of such property through a scheme implemented by Defendants that involved every step of the real estate purchase process – from the introduction of the property at lavish ‘launches’ and presales deceptively promoted with standardized marketing materials through the mails and wires, to the intentional manipulation of property values through misrepresentations, fraud, deception, omissions and unconscionable conduct, to the funding of mortgage loans for the properties, based upon materially false, artificially-inflated and purposefully manipulated appraisals."
Copies of both the original and amended complaints can be viewed by clicking the links below. A comparison reveals some of the legal strategies of the opposing sides.
For instance, the complaint includes ESI Living as a defendant. But ESI Living was not formed until May 2007, after the fraud alleged in the complaint. How can a company that did not exist be responsible? The amended complaint goes into great detail; making the case that ESI Living is simply a successor to RMA (which no longer exists). The complaint states "ESI Living is liable for the conduct alleged herein because it is a “mere continuation” or reincarnation of RMA."
Also, "ESI Living clearly held itself out to the public as being a continuation of RMA. In its marketing materials, ESI Living f/k/a Echelon, expressly takes credit for activities performed by RMA as early as 1998 and repeatedly states that Echelon was “known then as RMA.”
The amended complaint reinforces its argument with several citations from ESI’s own website and marketing materials. This particularly interesting section starts on page 88 (through page 94) of the complaint. Once information is disseminated (whether by print or via the Internet) it takes on a life of its own. It cannot be totally eradicated. Here are just a few examples:
-
In a press release dated February 5, 2008, ESI Living stated that it “served as the in-house marketing arm of Orlando-based Ginn Clubs & Resorts for the last seven years, generating over 10,000 sales and $5.5 billion in sales revenues.” See https://www.esiliving.com/news/index.html (emphasis added).
-
“When Bobby Ginn set out to launch Ginn Clubs and Resorts in 1999…he scoured the industry to find a team that could not only launch Hammock Beach, but build a sales and marketing division capable of overseeing all of the communities that would comprise Ginn Clubs and Resorts. Ginn found Echelon (known then as Resort Management Associates)…”
-
“Echelon brought in sales, marketing and administrative personnel to the Ginn Company, building and managing a team that would eventually sell more than 10,000 properties for $5.5 billion over a seven-year period.”
GoToby.com has the following content (since deleted) from the ESI Living/Echelon website : "While acting as the in-house sales and marketing arm of the Ginn Clubs and Resorts, Echelon directly managed 13 Ginn communities and over 300 sales, marketing and administrative personnel…."
One of the first suits brought against Ginn was filed in October ’07. Recently, after two years, it was ruled that each of the more than 100 plaintiffs would have to proceed individually, not as a group. [Michigan Lawsuit Faltering Following Recent Ruling] It took two years to reach that point. But the recent suit seems to have more "meat" behind the allegations and is being moved forward more aggressively.
Note: A complaint is an allegation. A complaint does not prove guilt. The legal system will determine the final outcome.
NASCAR: HMS Holdings v. Ginn Judgement
Become a Member of GoToby.com: Receive email notices of news, rumors, newsletters, and articles. [click here] It’s free.
Be sure to visit GoToby.com’s home page too: www.GoToby.com
Legal question
I am not an attorney nor am I versed on this type of law but why does this firm believe that they won’t face the same result as the Michigan case which got canned by the courts?
It seems to me that the ruling against the Michigan case was bounced because it was impossible to for the plaintiffs to sue everyone involved since they were not all defrauded by the all of the defendants. I believe a "shotgun" approach was the term the Judge used.
On the surface this seems to be a shotgun approach too. I’m not saying the plaintiffs don’t have some very damning information it just seems to me that despite the facts outlined in the filing the courts will view the complaint just as they did the Michigan case, especially since I believe they were filed in the same court in Jacksonville.
What am I missing?
GINN
Similar situation in Hilton Head – more fraud. Look it up, PA., Teachers’ Union.
John
Update
I finally got though the entire updated complaint. One thing is for sure they certainly dug a lot deeper with SunTrust Bank. The fraud committed by some of the SunTrust loan officers as outlined in the complaint is bad, real bad! That is the kind of stuff that will land some people behind bars!!!