Becker v. Independence Bank

305 F. Supp. 3d 351
CourtDistrict Court, D. Rhode Island
DecidedMarch 29, 2018
DocketC.A. No. 1:14–cv–534–JJM–LDA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 305 F. Supp. 3d 351 (Becker v. Independence Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Becker v. Independence Bank, 305 F. Supp. 3d 351 (D.R.I. 2018).

Opinion

JOHN J. McCONNELL, JR., United States District Judge.

Intrigued at the prospect of becoming involved in long line fishing in the unfished waters surrounding Saipan, Cheri Becker, Allen Hartley, and Rachel Hartley invested millions of dollars to bolster the Zietzke brothers, Courtney and Rockford ("Rocky"), and their companies USA Island Seafood, Inc. and Saipan USA Fisheries, *354Inc. ("the Companies") in their endeavors in the Northern Mariana Islands. Neither Ms. Becker nor the Hartleys had any experience in the fishing industry, but became heavily involved, eventually becoming officers in the Companies. Despite their attempts to right the ship through reorganization and additional borrowing, their fortunes figuratively sunk in those waters, as they were unable to overcome the mismanagement and their inexperience. Plaintiffs blame Independence Bank, who first loaned Courtney Zietzke money to fish in 2007, claiming it encouraged them to sink their money into the Companies, which the Bank knew were mismanaged and failing. The Bank blames the Plaintiffs themselves for inexperience, mismanagement, and perhaps, greed.

When all was lost, Plaintiffs sued the Bank, alleging that the Bank "knowingly defrauded" them by actively misleading and/or failing to disclose known facts about the Companies' failing finances and poor prospects. They argue that perpetrating this fraud was part of the Bank's exit strategy to recover the money and get personal guarantees on the failing loans. The Bank moves for summary judgment, arguing that it is undisputed that there was no fraud or misrepresentation because Plaintiffs knew everything the Bank knew about the Companies' finances and became deeply invested in the Companies knowing there was a risk.

FACTS

Courtney L. Zietzke had previous experience operating fishing companies and was looking for a loan to start fishing the newly opened waters surrounding Saipan, the largest of the Northern Marina Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. Independence Bank at that time wanted to cultivate business relationships in the Northern Mariana Islands. In March 2007, the Bank loaned $1.6 million to Courtney Zietzke and his Companies,1 later named USA Island Seafood, Inc. and Saipan USA Fisheries. At the time of this loan, Courtney owned two fishing vessels, the CAP'N WADE (later renamed the LADY CAROLINA) and the F/V HUNTER J (later renamed the MISS SAIPAN). Courtney bought the CAP'N WADE in 2002 and sold it to NMFI in 2006. Courtney knew from a survey performed when he bought the ship that a Stability Study needed to be done and a Trim & Stability booklet2 had to be on board whenever the vessel was underway. The March 2007 loan documents reflected Courtneys ownership of these vessels.

Just five months after this 2007 loan, the Bank became concerned with the financial state of the Companies. In a very explicit communication, the Bank told Courtney that the loan was in crisis and on the Bank's watch list. The Bank told Courtney that the Companies would be out of money before they even started catching fish. It encouraged Courtney to find a way to replace the depleted reserve accounts.

Courtney Zietzke's brother, Rocky Zietzke, met Plaintiff Cheri Becker in 2007, Rocky and Kenneth Mahmood3 approached her in November 2007 and asked her to loan Mr. Mahmood $100,000 on a 120-day term. She agreed. Ms. Becker *355loaned Mr. Mahmood another $100,000 before the end of the term for the first loan. In March 2008, the $200,000 that Ms. Becker loaned to Mr. Mahmood up to that point, plus another $100,000 was converted to shares in the Companies. While she alleges that these were personal loans to Mr. Mahmood, she testified that she knew they were investments in Courtney's fishing Companies in Saipan. Nevertheless, as of March 2008, Ms. Becker was officially an investor in the Companies. She engaged an attorney to assist in setting up a new corporate structure.

Also in March 2008, Ms. Becker traveled with Rocky and Mr. Mahmood to Saipan, presumably to learn more about the businesses in which she had invested. During that trip, the Bank's majority owner, Robert Catanzaro told her that the Companies were behind on the March 2007 loan payments. Ms. Becker made those late payments to the Bank. Traveling back to Saipan two months later, Ms. Becker discovered other evidence of Courtney's mismanagement, including unpaid bills, wages and vendors, and over $250,000 that appeared to be missing. As a result, Ms. Becker, along with Mr. Mahmood and Rocky, initiated legal action against Courtney and other shareholders to remove them from control. In May 2008, Courtney assigned all of his shares in the Companies to Rocky; Ms. Becker was Chief Executive Officer by this time.

The Companies and their mew management team were working to overcome the issues caused by Courtney's mismanagement. Ms. Becker made the final decision to hire Phil Westbrook and Dave Lewis to captain the vessels. She said that the new captains' vision and expertise gave the investors "the encouragement of go forward." In addition to needing the experienced captains, Ms. Becker, Rocky, and Mr. Mahmood knew they needed more capital. Ms. Becker reached out to Allen and Rachel Hartley to invest. During a June 2008 meeting, Ms. Becker told them that the Companies were mismanaged and funds had been misused, but that they were a good investment opportunity.

Mr. Hartley sought confirmation of Ms. Becker's pitch so he called Mr. Catanzaro from the Bank during his meeting. They spoke on the phone for less than a half hour. During this conversation, Mr. Hartley asked for financial information about the Companies. Specifically, he asked what the Companies could do financially, Mr. Hartley testified that his conversation with Mr. Catanzaro led him to believe that the investment in the Companies was a good one. Sometime afterward, Michael Sammartino, Director of Business Development at the Bank sent Mr. Hartley an email attaching pro forma tangible net worth balance sheets for the Companies.4 The Bank sent these statements in response to Mr. Hartley's inquiry about what the Companies could do in the future. The pro forma did not indicate that the numbers were for specific years, but listed "year one" and "year two" projections. The cash on hand reflected a balance from August 2007, almost a year old at that point. Plaintiffs' expert Luke Northwall testified that prior management created this pro forma in 2007 and it was a projection of a company's potential financial success, Mr. Hartley himself testified that he knew that management, not banks, prepare *356financial reports. Despite his testimony that he believed the Bank was passing off the numbers as real in the pro forma, Mr. Hartley admitted that he knew the Companies had no income. He felt the Companies were mismanaged, but "just felt they could make a go of it." It is undisputed, however, that the Hartleys knew at this time that the Companies had no income, were behind on payments, and had outstanding expenses. When Ms. Becker asked him to invest one million dollars, he agreed. He knew that part of the investment was to get caught up on loan payments to the Bank.

By the end of 2008, it is undisputed that Ms. Becker lived in Saipan and managed the Companies. Once Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
305 F. Supp. 3d 351, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/becker-v-independence-bank-rid-2018.