Facts

Element Capital LLC sued Maximum Business Innovations Inc. and others based on allegations of fraud.

Element then sued Maximum Business and many others, before focusing its suit against Matthew Anderson, Claudia Lopez, Global Business Systems LLC, and Dakota Holdings Inc. Dakota was defaulted. Lopez and Global won demurrers against Element without leave to amend. The matter then proceeded to trial only against Anderson.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
According to plaintiff, in 2009, Element Capital worked together with Maximum Business to raise capital necessary to its operations. Maximum introduced Element to Matthew Anderson, who recommended that Element invest in various financial products. As a result, Element lost all of its money.

Element then sued Maximum Business and many others, before focusing its suit against Anderson and other entities connected to him. The matter proceeded to trial only against Anderson. Element contended Anderson had misrepresented himself to them, and that he had no previous experience when he made his recommendations. Element claimed Anderson pretended to be a professional, and claimed he was operating a scam to trick investors. Element further claimed that Anderson made false representations about himself, and the products that Element invested in had all been fake. Element also claimed that Anderson had used fraudulent means to steal money, and then attempted to conceal his misconduct.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Anderson argued that he had been a legitimate businessman, and that he had been hired by, and relied on, Maximum Business and Kevin McBride to try to find alternate sources of financing for Element. He further claimed that the failure of the monetization process had been Maximum's fault, rather than his own.

Anderson also brought his own cross-complaint against Maximum Business, Kevin McBride, and Ken Kuwabara.

Settlement Discussions

Element demanded $400,000 to settle.

Damages

Element requested $93 million to compensate for its loss of principal.

Result

The jury found that Anderson was liable to Element, and awarded it $11.2 million. Anderson settled his cross-complaint against Kuwabara. The jury also found that Anderson was not entitled to relief against McBride.

Other Information

Entry of judgment in favor of Lopez and Global on the complaint, and a default judgment against Maximum Business on the cross-complaint, are pending.