Oklahoma Department of Securities ex rel. Faught v. Wilcox

2011 OK 82, 267 P.3d 106, 2011 Okla. LEXIS 89, 2011 WL 4790654
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 11, 2011
DocketNo. 109,111
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 2011 OK 82 (Oklahoma Department of Securities ex rel. Faught v. Wilcox) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oklahoma Department of Securities ex rel. Faught v. Wilcox, 2011 OK 82, 267 P.3d 106, 2011 Okla. LEXIS 89, 2011 WL 4790654 (Okla. 2011).

Opinion

EDMONDSON, J.

1 This is a second appeal resulting from a Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Marsha Schubert, operating as Schubert and Associates (Schubert). The facts are set forth in the first appeal, Dept. Of Securities ex rel. Faught v. Blair, 2010 OK 16, 231 P.3d 645 (Blair). The defendants herein, Marvin and Pamela Wilcox, were among the appellants in Blair appealing from summary judgments obtained by the plaintiffs on the theory of unjust enrichment against 158 "relief" defendants who had received more money than they invested in the Ponzi scheme.1 Plaintiffs had sought to recover all amounts the relief defendants had received from the scheme in excess of their original investment.

T2 In Blair, the relief defendants had not been charged with violating the Oklahoma Securities Act of 2004, 72 O.S. Supp.2003 § 1-101, et seq., and the preliminary question was whether the Department could proceed against non-violators of the Act. We held that the Act provided authority for the Oklahoma Department of Securities to bring an action against innocent investors in a Pon-zi scheme when they received a profit from the Ponzi scheme that was an unreasonable return on their investment. We held that the court-appointed receiver could bring a proceeding for equitable relief against innocent investors for recovery of funds that qualify as an unjust enrichment obtained by the investors from the Ponzi scheme. We held that an Oklahoma District Court has subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate competing equitable claims of ownership to funds that were part of an investment scheme which violated the securities laws. We also held that an innocent investor in a Ponzi scheme may use equitable setoffs in defense against an unjust enrichment claim brought by the plaintiffs.

T3 On remand, the Department of Securities and the Receiver (referred to herein as Department) moved for summary judgment against the defendants, Marvin and Pam Wilcox (Wilcoxes), on grounds that the Wileoxes [108]*108were not entitled to the equitable relief provided for innocent investors in Blair because they were partners with Schubert and were actively involved in the check-kiting scheme operated by Schubert that supported her Ponzi scheme.2 Department argued that more than $150,000,000.00 ran though the Wilcoxes' bank accounts, that they saw no statements from a day trading account and that they acted with reckless disregard for the legitimacy of Schubert's scheme. Department listed eighteen (18) undisputed material facts.

T4 Department asserts that it was undisputed that Schubert's Ponzi scheme was supported by a long-running check exchange or check-kiting scheme, primarily between the accounts of three individuals, including the defendant Marvin Wileox, and the accounts of Schubert. The consistent movement of funds between these accounts created a "float" that Schubert used to pay purported investment returns. In exchange for a check drawn on an account of Marvin Wilcox, Schubert would write a check from one of her bank accounts, usually for a greater dollar amount, payable to Marvin Wileox.

15 Between December 12, 2002, and October 6, 2004, more than 650 transactions took place between Schubert and the Wilcoxes involving the check exchange. The Wilcoxes transferred $77,739,746.00 to Schubert and Schubert transferred back to the Wilcoxes $78,249,251.56. The Wileoxes received $509,505.00 in profits paid to them by Schubert from Schubert's commingled funds. In support of these undisputed facts, Department attached the affidavit of Dan Clarke, a certified fraud examiner and supervisory investigator for Department, based on his analysis of deposits and disbursements from the various Schubert accounts.

T6 In support of the motion, Department offered evidence the Wilcoxes were in partnership with Schubert. They attached Schedule E forms (Supplemental Income and Loss from Partnerships) from the Wileoxes' IRS 1040 returns for tax years 2002 and 2003, in which they reported to the IRS that they were partners with Schubert & Associates. Department asserted, based on deposition testimony of Marvin Wileox, that it was undisputed that Wilcox never saw any records relating to a day trading account and never received any statements from such an account. Marvin Wilcox was in the banking industry his entire adult life, last serving as Vice President of NBC Bank in Kingfisher. Wilcox gave Schubert physical control of multiple checks from his bank accounts that were blank except for his signature. The Wilcoxes received monthly bank account statements for their personal checking accounts, but claimed that they did not review or reconcile them.

T 7 In response, the Wileoxes disputed that they were partners with Schubert. They stated that they did not prepare their tax returns and did not know why they were shown as partners with Schubert on their 2002 and 2008 tax returns. They claimed that they were never partners with Schubert and they never received any K-1 partnership forms from the partnership. The Wilcoxes admitted that they did not receive statements or anything that specifically referred to a specific day trading account, but stated that they did receive written notes from Schubert that allegedly contained account balances from day trades. They argued that it was a fact question whether or not they were innocent investors. The Wileoxes submitted their own identical affidavits as evidence in support of their objections. They stated that they were not aware of the existence of a Ponzi scheme in their dealings with Schubert.

T8 The Wilcoxes also disputed Department's calculations of the amount of their net profits from the commingled funds. The Wilcoxes admitted that they received $77,583,050.00 from Schubert, and claimed that their net profit from the commingled funds was $133,945.00, not $509,505.00. They argued that whether their $133,945.00 in net profits was "unreasonable" under the Blair standard presented a question of fact. The Wileoxes did not dispute the remainder [109]*109of plaintiffs' undisputed facts regar dlng the Ponzi and check-kiting scheme.3

19 Department refuted the Wileoxes' denial of their partnership with Schubert by attaching the two K-1 "Partner's Share of Income" forms for 2002 and 2008 produced by the Wilcoxes during discovery and attached to their signed IRS tax returns for those years. Department also submitted a photocopy of a letter from Marvin Wilcox to AXA (where Wilcox had an account and for whom Schubert had worked) dated July 7, 2004, in which Wilcox stated that he was partners with Schubert and had entered the partnership at his own risk, knowing that the money he invested with Schubert in an options account was not guaranteed in any form. As to the receipt by Wilcox of any records pertaining to a day trading account, Department asserted, based on Wileox's deposition testimony, that the "written notes" that Wilcox claimed to have received were nothing more than "sticky notes" on which Schubert would write down an account balance when requested. Department attached the accounting, prepared by a CPA firm, on which their calculation of $509,505.00 in net profits was based, along with photocopies of the Wileoxes' bank statements reflecting check exchanges with Schubert on an almost daily basis.

10 At the hearing on the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, the Wilcoxes' attorney advised the trial judge that they disputed the amount of net profit and whether the return on investment was reasonable, arguing that these were fact questions not proper for summary judgment.4

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Bluebook (online)
2011 OK 82, 267 P.3d 106, 2011 Okla. LEXIS 89, 2011 WL 4790654, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oklahoma-department-of-securities-ex-rel-faught-v-wilcox-okla-2011.