Beck-Ford Construction, LLC v. TCA Global Credit Master Fund, LP

240 F. Supp. 3d 1256, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32281, 2017 WL 2366472
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedMarch 6, 2017
DocketCase No. 1:15-cv-61706-UU
StatusPublished

This text of 240 F. Supp. 3d 1256 (Beck-Ford Construction, LLC v. TCA Global Credit Master Fund, LP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beck-Ford Construction, LLC v. TCA Global Credit Master Fund, LP, 240 F. Supp. 3d 1256, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32281, 2017 WL 2366472 (S.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

ORDER

Ursula Ungaro, UNITED STATES DISTRICT judge

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court upon Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the Third Amended Complaint. D.E. 105.

THE COURT has considered the Motion, the pertinent portions of the record and is otherwise fully advised in the premises,

This case arises from a business relationship between Plaintiffs and Defendants in which Defendants loaned money to Plaintiffs pursuant, to a series of agreements, and as consideration for such financing, Plaintiffs agreed to release and waive any potential claims against Defendants. There is no dispute-that Plaintiffs received the benefits of the credit facilities provided by Defendants, and Plaintiffs do not seek to rescind the agreements relating to such credit facilities in this action. Rather, Plaintiffs are seeking damages mainly for Defendants’ alleged misconduct, that occurred prior to. the execution of the final agreement.

However, Plaintiffs’ Third Amended Complaint contains an overarching defect in that the exhibits to the Third Amended Complaint establish that Plaintiffs repeatedly waived and released their claims in return for receiving additional extensions of. credit and other benefits. Plaintiffs cannot reap the benefits of the agreements and ignore the fact that as consideration for these agreements, Plaintiffs agreed to waive and release their claims against Defendants. Only Count Three in Plaintiffs’ [1259]*1259Third Amended Complaint contains allegations pertaining to conduct that occurred subsequent to the signing of the final credit agreement; however, notwithstanding four attempts at pleading, this Court finds that Plaintiffs failed to state a plausible claim for breach of contract. For the reasons contained herein, this Court finds Plaintiffs’ action is dismissed with prejudice.

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

■ The following facts, conclusory and imprecise as they may be, are taken fr'om Plaintiffs’ Third Amended Complaint. D.E. 90.

1. Plaintiffs

Plaintiff, Bryan Scott Jarnagin (“Jar-nagin”), is the Chief Executive Officer for each of the Plaintiff entities. Id. ¶3. Jarnagin is an entrepreneur who has experience in commercial construction, real estate development, and technology development. Id. ¶ 17. Over the past several years, Jarnagin has focused on,creating businesses in the green technology industry. Id. ¶ 18. He controls each of the Plaintiff entities, either directly' or indirectly. Id. ¶ 17. Jarnagin has a controlling interest in Plaintiff, LCTI Low Carbon Technologies International, Inc. (“LCTI”),' which is a public company through which Jarnagin has sought to implement the business plan that is at issue in this case. Id. ¶ 19.

In' 2013, LCTI owned or controlled assets with a total value of approximately $270 million dollars. Id. ¶ 20(a). This value included real estate that is controlled by LCTI through Plaintiff, WK Management Services (“WKMS”), and this property had an approximate fair market value of $88 million dollars. Id. In addition, LCTI’s total value includes twenty-two (22) green technologies that are owned by LCTI, and this intellectual property had an appraised value of approximately $163 million dollars. Id. In 2013, the intellectual property was owned outright by LCTI without any encumbrance or lien. Id. ¶ 20(b). At that time, LCTI also controlled Plaintiff, Commercial & Institutional Mechanical, Ltd. (“C '& I”), and was ready to acquire three other building contractors, including Plaintiff, Ideal National Mechanical Corporation (“Ideal”), with the aid of third-party financing. Id. ¶ 20(c). LCTI’s assets are now encumbered by liens that secure TCA’s loans. Id. ¶ 20(b).

In 2013, C & I was an energy efficiency firm that focused on large-scale institutional clients as well as energy efficiency'projects that provided mechanical contracting services, such as pipefitting, welding, and sheet metal mechanic services. Id. ¶ 21. At that time, C & I had sufficient working capital to “generate millions of dollars of annual revenues and. earn hundreds of thousands of dollars of annual net income before and after this business was acquired by LCTI in or about late 2011.” Id. ¶ 21(a). C & I was controlled by Teposolar Technologies, Corp., which was controlled by Plaintiff, Sustainable Energy Properties, Inc. (“SEP”), which was controlled by LCTI. Id. ¶ 21(b). C & I is no longer operational. Id ¶ 21(c).,

In 2013, Plaintiff, WKMS, was a- real estate holding company that owned real estate without any encumbrance or lien in Galveston County, Texas. Id. ¶ 22. WKMS was controlled by Project Green Lonestar Corp., which was controlled by SEP. Id. ¶ 22(a). The real estate is now encumbered by liens that secure TCA’s loans. Id. ¶ 22(b).

In late 2014, LCTI’s affiliate, Viridis Corporation, acquired Plaintiff, Beck-Ford Construction, LLC’s (“Beckford”). At that time, Beckford was an established business with millions of dollars in assets, including cash in- excess of $1 million dollars, and millions in annual revenues from which [1260]*1260Beckford earned annual net income in excess of $1 million dollars. Id. ¶ 107. Plaintiff, Viridis Corporation (“Viridis”)» is a corporation organized under the laws of Nevada that was used by Jarnagin to acquired Beckford. Id. ¶ 7. Id. ¶ 125. Presently, Viridis owns sixty (60) percent of Beckford, and Jarnagin owns the other forty (40) percent. Id.

2.Defendants

Defendant, Robert Press (“Press”), is the Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner of Defendant, TCA Global Credit Master Fund, LP (“TCA”). Id. ¶ 9. Defendant, Donna Silverman (“Silverman”) is the Chief Operations Officer for TCA. Id. ¶¶ 10-11. In 2013, TCA was an offshore lender that Press and Silverman, through their positions as General Partner and the Investment Manager, used to entrap borrowers into predatory loans. Id. ¶ 23. Press and Silverman’s objective was to extract unlawful interest and fees, and to seize collateral that over-secured said loans. Id. TCA raises capital by offering limited partnerships in TCA’s “Master Fund” and various “feeder funds” to both United States and non-United States investors. Id. ¶ 24.

Since its inception, TCA has continuously raised capital from United States and non-United States investors. Id. ¶ 25. TCA raises capital by means of material misrepresentations to investors about TCA’s manner of doing business. Id. TCA targets micro-cap and small-sized public companies with limited access to capital (Id. ¶27), targets borrowers who enjoy a receivable balance approximately twice the amount of the loan (Id. ¶ 28), and makes asset-based loans to such businesses because TCA requires “deal flow” from loans to sustain its liquidity. Id. ¶ 26. Over the years, a large portion of TCA’s income has been derived from charging and collecting fees from its borrowers. Id. ¶ 28. When it administers loans, TCA also utilizes lock-box arrangements, which enable it to withhold from borrowers the cash flow due to be returned to them under the applicable loan documents. Id.

3. Press and Silverman’s Roles in TCA

Press and Silverman use their roles in TCA to enrich themselves. Id. ¶ 30.

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Bluebook (online)
240 F. Supp. 3d 1256, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32281, 2017 WL 2366472, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beck-ford-construction-llc-v-tca-global-credit-master-fund-lp-flsd-2017.