Bin Bandar Mohamed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud v. Fast Forward, Inc.

672 N.E.2d 568, 41 Mass. App. Ct. 643, 1996 Mass. App. LEXIS 853
CourtMassachusetts Appeals Court
DecidedNovember 18, 1996
DocketNo. 94-P-2066
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 672 N.E.2d 568 (Bin Bandar Mohamed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud v. Fast Forward, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Appeals Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bin Bandar Mohamed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud v. Fast Forward, Inc., 672 N.E.2d 568, 41 Mass. App. Ct. 643, 1996 Mass. App. LEXIS 853 (Mass. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

Perretta, J.

After the jury returned a verdict against Fast Forward, Inc. (Fast), on the plaintiffs complaint for conversion of his four luxury automobiles, the trial judge turned to the count brought under G. L. c. 93A, which he had reserved for decision. Finding that Fast and its principal, Russell Stoehr, had used false documentation to transfer ownership of the vehicles and that they “knew or reasonably should have known that their outrageous and irresponsible conduct in dealing with the plaintiffs vehicles was offensive to the consuming public as well as public policy and a wilful attempt to profit at the risk of both the plaintiff and the consumer,” the trial judge awarded double damages and attorney’s fees.2 On appeal, Fast and Stoehr raise numerous issues concerning the trial judge’s ruhngs on the evidence, post-judgment motions, and the c. 93A complaint. We affirm the judgment.

1. The evidence. There was evidence to show that the plaintiff, Prince Mohamed, a member of the Saudi royal family, maintains residences in the States of Washington and Arizona. In 1985 and 1986, he imported four automobiles which he had purchased in Saudi Arabia into the United States to his residence in Washington. Those vehicles were described as follows: (1) a 1985 Ferrari Testarossa; (2) a 1987 Aston Martin Volante; (3) a 1983 Aston Martin Lagonda; and (4) a 1987 Lamborghini LM002. The plaintiffs name was inscribed on a brass plate affixed to the door jamb of several of the vehicles.

Because the automobiles did not enter the United States through customary channels, from foreign manufacturers to American distributors, they were referred to as “grey market” vehicles. As such, they were required to be “federalized,” that is, brought into conformity with the safety and emissions standards established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Transportation. In 1988, the plaintiff arranged through his business manager, David Sakahara, to ship the vehicles to Hilton Pereira in Connecticut. Pereira, who had been recommended to the plaintiff by a friend and who had previously overseen such work on a Ferrari 4121 for the plaintiff, was to [645]*645coordinate the necessary federalization work on the vehicles. When the vehicles were shipped to Pereira, they had either Saudi or Italian registration plates, which was an indication that the automobiles were not new and were registered to an owner.3

Pereira, who was not licensed as either an automobile broker or dealer in Massachusetts or Connecticut, in turn transferred the vehicles to Fast, situated in West Bridgewater, through Stoehr, without the plaintiff's authorization or knowledge. Fast did not receive either a certificate of origin or a certificate of title for any of the four vehicles.4 The failure to present a certificate of either type for each of the vehicles would put an experienced dealer in domestic and foreign automobiles, such as Fast and Stoehr, on notice that Pereira was not the legal owner of the vehicles.

There were records from Fast, all of a dubious and discredited nature, showing that the four vehicles had been sold without proper ownership documentation; that is, ownership was purportedly transferred to Fast and buyers from Fast with either bills of sale from Pereira or forged certificates of origin purchased for $500 each by Fast and Stoehr from an individual from New Jersey named Matthew Visconte.

When the plaintiff saw in an automobile magazine an advertisement for the sale of a Ferrari Testarossa which looked very much like his, he realized something was amiss. He hired a private investigator and, ultimately, was able to regain possession, with a court order, of his Aston Martin Lagonda and Lamborghini LM002. The Aston Martin Vol-ante was located and, as of the time of trial, was being transferred back to Fast for its return to the plaintiff. The plaintiff has not recovered the Ferrari Testarossa which was [646]*646sold to an individual by the buyer who purchased it from Fast. That individual apparently shipped the vehicle out of the country.

On this evidence, the jury found, in response to special questions put to them pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 49(a), 365 Mass. 812 (1974), that the plaintiff was the owner of the vehicles in dispute, that Fast had converted those vehicles, that the plaintiff had entrusted those vehicles to Pereira who was not a merchant dealing with merchandise of the type involved in the instant case, that, in dealing with Pereira, Fast and Stoehr were neither buyers in the ordinary course of business of any of the vehicles nor good faith purchasers for value, and that the plaintiff was entitled to damages from Fast in the amount of $430,000.

Although the trial judge accepted the jury’s determination as to the amount of damages, his finding of a violation of G. L. c. 93A was not based simply upon their finding that Fast had converted the plaintiff’s vehicles. Rather, the trial judge found that Fast and Stoehr knowingly purchased counterfeit certificates of origin, which they used to transfer title to two of the plaintiff’s vehicles with the intent of depriving him of his property and deceiving those buyers whom they intended would rely on the forged certificates. It is that conduct upon which the trial judge concluded that an award of double damages against Fast and Stoehr, individually, was warranted.5

2. Theory of defense. In defending against the plaintiffs claims, the defendants rely upon G. L. c. 106, § 2-403(2). That statute, as inserted by St. 1957, c. 765, § 1, provides: “Any entrusting of possession of goods to a merchant who deals in goods of that kind gives him power to transfer all rights of the entruster to a buyer in ordinary course of business.” It is the defendants’ position that they purchased the vehicles from a merchant, Pereira, to whom they had been entrusted by the plaintiff and that they did so in good faith.6

As earlier noted, the jury found that Pereira was not a [647]*647merchant and that the defendants were neither buyers in the ordinary course of business nor good faith purchasers for value. There being no dispute that the plaintiff entrusted his automobiles to Pereira, most of the issues raised by the defendants on appeal pertain to evidence of their good faith and whether Pereira was a merchant.

3. Evidence of prior dealings with Pereira. During his direct examination, Stoehr testified that, prior to his dealings with Pereira in respect to the four vehicles in question, Fast had purchased twenty-five automobiles from Pereira. This testimony, to which there was no objection, was relevant to the issues of Pereira’s merchant status and the defendants’ good faith. The plaintiff’s cross-examination of Stoehr was based, in part, upon the belief that Fast had no records or other documents of these prior dealings. That belief was reasonable in light of the fact that the plaintiff had requested that all documents pertaining to Pereira be produced at the deposition of a Fast employee. The records were not produced because, as explained at the time of the deposition, the scope of the subpoena comprehended seven or eight years of business records and presented retrieval problems.

There the matter stood until redirect of Stoehr, when the defendants sought to introduce business records of Fast’s twenty-five prior transactions with Pereira.

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Bluebook (online)
672 N.E.2d 568, 41 Mass. App. Ct. 643, 1996 Mass. App. LEXIS 853, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bin-bandar-mohamed-bin-abdul-rahman-al-saud-v-fast-forward-inc-massappct-1996.