Ahlgren v. Muller

CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedFebruary 10, 2020
Docket0:19-cv-00303
StatusUnknown

This text of Ahlgren v. Muller (Ahlgren v. Muller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ahlgren v. Muller, (mnd 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA ERIK A. AHLGREN, in his capacity as assignee in the assignment for the benefit Civ. No. 19-303 (JRT/LIB) of creditors of Ashby Farmers Co- Operative Elevator Company,

Plaintiff, MEMORANDUM OPINION v. AND ORDER

DIEDERIK MULLER a/k/a DIEKIE MULLER and DM SAFARIS, a/k/a DIEKIE MULLER HUNTING SAFARIS,

Defendants.

Erik A. Ahlgren, AHLGREN LAW OFFICE, PLLC, 220 West Washington Avenue, Suite 105, Fergus Falls, MN 56537, for plaintiff.

Mark G. Schroeder, Adam G. Chandler, and Jason R. Asmus, TAFT STETTINIUS & HOLLISTER LLP, 80 South Eighth Street, Suite 2200, Minneapolis, MN, 55402, for defendants. This case arises out of Jerry Hennessey’s unauthorized use of funds from his prior employer, the Ashby Farmers Co-Operative Elevator Company (the “Co-Op”). From 2003–2018, Hennessey paid over $5 million of the Co-Op’s funds to himself or directly to third parties for his personal benefit. Among others, Hennessey paid Defendant DM Safaris, owned by Defendant Diederik Muller (“Muller”), with checks from the Co-Op to fund exotic hunting trips for himself and his wife. Upon discovery of the fraud in 2018, the Co-Op ceased operations and appointed an Assignee, Plaintiff Erik Ahlgren, to pursue claims and remedies on behalf of the Co-Op and its creditors. Ahlgren brought this action in January 2019, seeking to void unauthorized payments to Defendants.

Presently before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2) and failure to state a claim under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss under Rule 12(b)(2), grant in part and deny in part Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss

under Rule 12(b)(6), and will deny Ahlgren leave to amend.

BACKGROUND

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND The Co-Op is a grain farmers’ cooperative based in Ashby, Minnesota. (First. Am. Compl. (“FAC”) ¶ 1, July 11, 2019, Docket No. 47.) The Co-Op purchases grain from local farmers, who are also owners of the Co-Op, and sells it to grain markets. (Id. ¶ 14.)

In 1989, the Co-Op hired Jerry Hennessey, a resident of Minnesota, as its general manager. (Id. ¶ 14.) Between June 2003 and September 2018, Hennessey received over $5.4 million in unauthorized funds from the Co-Op by writing checks from the Co-Op to himself and directly to third parties, including Defendants. (Id. ¶¶ 15–17.) Hennessey

used the checks for personal bills, home improvement projects, property purchases, and domestic and international hunting trips unrelated to the business of the Co-Op. (Id. ¶ 16.) Hennessey disguised his fraud from the Co-Op by coding the checks as feed purchases or other ordinary expenses. (Id.) All of the checks identified the Co-Op as the payor. (Id. ¶ 18.)

Muller is a resident of South Africa and maintains an address in California. (Id. ¶ 2; Decl. of Diederik J. Muller (“1st Muller Decl.”) ¶ 2, Feb. 28, 2019, Docket No. 13.) He owns and operates DM Safaris, which provides guided hunting services and accommodations in South Africa. (1st Muller Decl. ¶ 3.) DM Safaris is incorporated and

headquartered in South Africa but maintains an office and bank account in California. (Id.; Decl. of Erik A. Ahlgren (“Ahlgren Decl.”) ¶ 16, Ex. N at 152, Aug. 26, 2019, Docket No. 55.)1 DM Safaris is not licensed to do business in Minnesota, does not have property or

agents in Minnesota, and does not maintain a bank account in Minnesota. (1st Muller Decl. ¶ 5.) DM Safaris operates a website and Facebook page that generally advertises its services to an international and United States audience. (2nd Decl. of Diederik J. Muller (“2nd Muller Decl.”) ¶ 2, Sept. 9, 2019, Docket No. 59.)

Muller met Hennessey for the first time in February 2012 at a Safari Club International (“SCI”) hunting convention held in Nevada. (FAC ¶ 21; First Muller Decl. ¶¶ 6–7.) Hennessey wrote Muller an unauthorized check for $45,000 at the Nevada convention as down payment for a South African hunting trip later that year. (FAC ¶ 21;

Affidavit of Erik. A. Ahlgren (“Ahlgren Aff.”) ¶ 4, Ex. 1 (“Hennessey Aff.”) ¶ 13, May 30,

1 Page numbers listed in the Ahlgren Declaration refer to the PDF pagination of the Declaration as a whole rather than the individual exhibit page numbers listed on each exhibit. 2019, Docket No. 33.) Following the 2012 Nevada convention, Muller and Hennessy corresponded via telephone and email while Hennessey was in Minnesota to finalize

details for the 2012 trip. (Hennessey Aff. ¶ 12.) Hennessey was responsible for making his own travel arrangements to and from South Africa. (Id.) Hennessey and his wife then flew to South Africa in May 2012 for the hunt. (Id. ¶ 14.) After the trip and while still in South Africa, Hennessey paid Muller for the animals he took and completed appropriate

paperwork to have the animals shipped back to him in Minnesota. (Id. ¶ 15.) In 2013, Hennessey and Muller again met at the SCI convention in Nevada and, again, Hennessey wrote Muller and DM Safaris an unauthorized check—this time for

$100,000—to pay for another South African hunting trip with DM Safaris. (Id. ¶ 18.) Following the 2013 convention, Hennessey and Muller again corresponded by email and phone while Hennessey was in Minnesota to finalize details for the trip. (Id. ¶ 19–20.) Like the first trip, Hennessey paid for the animals he took and completed paperwork for

the animals to be shipped to Minnesota. (Id. ¶ 20.) A problem developed, however, when the skins of the animals taken never arrived in Minnesota. (Id. ¶ 21.) In 2014, Hennessey met with Muller at the SCI convention in Nevada to discuss the problem with the 2013 trip. (Id. ¶ 22.) Following the SCI convention, Muller returned to

Minnesota with Hennessey and the pair spent three to four days ice fishing, snowmobiling, and discussing problems with the 2013 trip. (Id.; Ahlgren Decl. ¶ 19, Ex. Q at 202.) After Muller left Minnesota, he refunded Hennessey $8,000 for the 2013 trip. (Hennessey Aff. ¶ 23.)

In January 2015, prior to SCI Convention in Nevada, Muller called Hennessey from South Africa and requested a $100,000 loan from Hennessey to purchase black impalas for his business. 2 (Id. ¶ 24; 2nd Muller Decl. ¶ 3.) Muller promised to repay the loan within one year. (Hennessey Aff. ¶ 24; 2nd Muller Decl. ¶ 3.) Hennessey obliged and sent

Muller an unauthorized check for $100,000. (Hennessey Aff. ¶ 24; 2nd Muller Decl. ¶ 3.) Later that month, at the 2015 SCI convention in Nevada, Muller gave Hennessey a check for $20,000 as an additional refund for the problems associated with the 2013 trip.

(Hennessey Aff. ¶ 24.) The $100,000 loan has yet to be repaid. (Id. ¶ 25.) Hennessey’s fraud was discovered in September 2018. (Id. ¶ 35.) By this time, Hennessey had obtained a credit line of over $7 million for the Co-Op in his ongoing efforts to conceal his fraud and cover the Co-Op’s expenses. (Ahlgren Decl. ¶ 4, Ex. C at

24–25.) On February 14, 2019, Hennessey pleaded guilty to mail fraud and income tax evasion. (Id. at 23.) As a result of Hennessey’s fraud, the Co-Op was forced to close and has been unable to pay its debts. (Ahlgren Decl. ¶ 3, Ex. B at 13.) In December 2018, the Co-Op

executed an assignment (the “Assignment”) with Erik Ahlgren for the benefit of the Co-

2 An impala is a “swift-running antelope.” “Impala,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online, https://www.britannica.com/animal/impala#ref1022159, (last accessed Dec. 19, 2019). A black impala “is a comparatively rare subspecies coveted by trophy hunters.” Id. Op’s creditors.

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