James Ross - A Character-Based Collection (Prairie Winds Golf Course)

by James Ross

“They hid behind the power of attorney document,” Matt pressed, “which we have determined with the help of a handwriting expert was a forged document.”

  “The golf course changed hands and we didn’t even know about it,” Lucille stated.

  “We thought that we still had control of it but that a different management company was operating it,” Matt proclaimed.

  “That would have been Lew and me,” J Dub acknowledged.

  “Yes,” Lucille admitted, “and when we found out that it wasn’t still in our name we filed a lawsuit to try to get it back.”

  “But it was thrown out of court on a technicality,” Matt added. He wasn’t aware of the connection between Judge Troy Rowland and Lew.

  Curt felt the need to run an idea by the group. “Weren’t you folks looking at the financial statements that Walter was generating on behalf of the estate?”

  “That was what I was referring to when I said that in some ways it is our own fault,” Lucille confessed. “Walter was up there and we were down here. We were busy living our life. Daddy had a lot of property and we were paying Walter to manage it and watch over it for us.”

  “And then when we started to check on some things a few years later, we found that he had been disposing of all of it,” Matt said.

  “What did you find out?” J Dub inquired.

  “Here is where the story gets a lot harder to believe,” Lucille continued. “We found that he had been selling our property and we weren’t getting any money for it.”

  J Dub and Curt wondered how it could be possible to lose several million dollars and not even be aware of it. “What?” J Dub exclaimed. “How can that be?”

  Lucille grabbed a handkerchief out of her purse. She started to gently cry. “The best that we could trace, with Denny’s help, was that the money was going to George Pierce’s title company at closing,” she said with a sniffle. “And he was keeping the money!”

  “I know that we paid for it,” J Dub stated matter-of-factly. “We went to the bank and got a loan.”

  “But the money went to the title company to be disbursed,” Matt claimed, “and George Pierce kept it instead of giving it to Walter, and ultimately, us.”

  “The golf course was only one of the properties that he did that to us on,” Lucille said as she started to sob. “We had farm acreage, apartment buildings, commercial strip centers and hotels.” Lucille started bawling. She covered her face with her handkerchief. Matt put his arm around his mother to comfort her.

  “Our family had property in Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Nebraska as well as California, Colorado and Florida,” Matt confessed.

  “And the two of them sold it all out from underneath us,” Lucille sobbed.

  Curt and J Dub looked at each other in amazement. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “Let’s all take a break for a minute or two,” Curt offered. “What would everyone like to drink?”

  Curt rounded up the beverages for the group. Matt consoled his mother. J Dub took the occasion to visit the men’s room. “I’m at a loss for what to say,” J Dub said upon his return. “What am I involved in?”

  “It sounds like a fraud,” Curt said as a mild understatement.

  “And fixing it is going to take an unbelievable amount of effort,” Matt conceded.

  “How can we help?” J Dub offered.

  “We obviously feel that J Dub was victimized, too,” Curt stated.

  “But not nearly to the degree that you got it,” J Dub agreed.

  Lucille had composed herself. “Zerrmann has been taking steps to sell the property to Norman Pierce.”

  “You know that for a fact?” J Dub questioned.

  “Yes. He’s been working on that for some time,” Lucille admitted.

  J Dub was flabbergasted and beside himself as to what he didn’t know. He had only heard through the grapevine that Lew was planning on doing that.

  “When George Pierce did the title work twenty years ago he did not include a five acre piece of land that was split off of the farm as an old homestead,” Matt declared.

  “We’ve paid taxes on it for all of these years,” Lucille disclosed.

  “Lew knew about that, too,” J Dub revealed. “It was over on hole number fifteen.”

  “We’ve been fighting him in court about that for the last several years,” Lucille divulged.

  “But it looks like the courts are going to award that to him under an adverse possession action,” Matt announced.

  “He’s claiming that he has cared for that property for all of these years and that he is entitled to that as well,” Lucille disclosed.

  “So that’s another piece of ground we won’t get any money for,” Matt whined.

  “And then he will be free to sell the entire property to Norman,” Lucille said with a whimper.

  “We think that this was part of the original plan,” Matt suggested.

  “What was part of the original plan?” J Dub queried.

  “To sell the property to Norman all along,” Lucille proposed. “He and George knew about this way back when they owned the title company together.”

  Matt filled in more blanks. “We think that Lew made a deal with Norman way back then. Lew agreed to sell the property to Norman when it came time to sell it.”

  “That is wild,” Curt exclaimed.

  “It sure goes a long way in explaining why he has treated me the way that he has,” J Dub declared.

  “And you bring a lot of value to our situation,” Lucille acknowledged.

  “Denny has told us that the corporation that was operating on that property may have been operating fraudulently,” Matt admitted. “That’s where you come in under a different capacity.”

  “He’s been under federal investigation for tax evasion,” J Dub conceded.

  “Not only did a group of dishonest businessmen pull a scam on us several years ago, but now we might be able to show that they operated an illegal enterprise over nearly two decades,” Matt theorized.

  “Denny feels as if all of you have been defrauded,” Curt advocated, “and he feels as if Lew, at the very least, breached his fiduciary duty to J Dub.”

  “I have done the most research that I can do,” Lucille declared. “Under contract law it appears that a transaction can be voided if no consideration was ever given . . . and we got no consideration. No money. Nothing!”

  “And since we didn’t receive any money for our property we are going to try to get it back,” Matt maintained.

  “What you’ve just told me is almost too bizarre to believe,” J Dub admitted.

  “It’s true. It really happened,” Lucille said.

  “And there is another thing that you need to be made aware of,” Matt continued. “Don’t trust the U. S. Attorney’s office, the FBI or the IRS. We’ve been trying for over a decade to get them to do something. They don’t care about you or us . . .”

  “ . . . Or justice,” Lucille butted in. She reached again for her handkerchief as tears formed in her eyes. “Trying to get the government to help is a total waste of time.”

  “All the prosecutors want to do is get slam dunk cases to protect their perfect records and further their own personal careers,” Matt said angrily.

  J Dub leaned back in his seat and stretched his arms. “What you’ve just told us is incredible!” he exclaimed. “This is unbelievable!”

  “If nothing else, it sounds as if we’ll be able to fill in some blanks for you,” Curt offered, “and you’ll be able to fill in some blanks for us.”

  “We think, along with Denny, that by joining forces we might be able to put a strong case together,” Lucille suggested.

  “We have some forensic accounting people dissecting the financial statements,” J Dub added.

  “And I have some contacts with title companies that can run a title search,” Curt proposed.

  “Then let’s put the legal work in Denny’s hands,” Matt advised.

  “That’s fine by me as long as he
’ll work on a contingency basis,” J Dub stated.

  “He will for you,” Matt answered. “We’ve put a sizable retainer up. You are more than welcome to join in our pursuit of this injustice.”

  “I see no reason why we can’t help each other,” J Dub agreed. “I feel terrible for what has happened to you.”

  “We lost a lot,” Lucille stated. “I think more than anything else we don’t want to see dishonest people prosper.”

  J Dub thought long and hard for a minute. “In a twisted sort of way, I’m sitting on both sides of the fence,” he started. “On one side of the fence I was part of the group that may have committed fraud against you. That occurred when we bought the property. On the other side of the fence, I knew nothing about what you have just relayed to me. Therefore, Lew and Walter and George have defrauded me.”

  Lucille and Matt nodded their heads.

  “Can I have assurances from you that you won’t come back after me?” J Dub asked.

  “If you can help us recover what we have lost, then we will most certainly not hold you responsible for any wrongdoing,” Lucille promised. “Denny has already talked to us about waiving any conflicts of interests.”

  The group ended their discussion. J Dub and Curt were speechless. It was certainly going to be an interesting flight home.

  Chapter Eighty-Nine

  In the coming days, J Dub scheduled another appointment to meet with Denny. He wanted to talk about the various options that were available to him and try to determine some sort of strategy. Since the decisions that were going to have to be made included his family, J Dub wanted to make sure that not only Curt, but Marcia was present.

  The three of them arrived at Denny’s office and even though she had been forewarned, the condition of Denny’s office appalled Marcia. Papers and files were scattered everywhere and Denny had not taken the time to clean off the chairs so that his clients would have a place to sit. To Marcia it was obvious that he normally conducted business in this haphazard way and she found it repugnant.

  “This is my wife, Marcia,” J Dub said as he introduced Marcia to Denny.

  Denny extended his hand. “Are you allergic to filing?” Marcia asked curtly.

  “I’ve been working on some projects,” Denny explained. “We can go into the conference room.”

  “One can only hope that we can actually open a door without a mountain of papers collapsing on us.” Marcia quipped. “You know, this isn’t the best way to make an impression.”

  Denny gave her a look of disdain and then glanced at J Dub and grinned. “At least the chairs will be cleaned off in the conference room.”

  “Oh, are they visible to the naked eye?” Marcia sarcastically replied. She gave J Dub a look of ‘We better not be wasting our time with this guy’.

  He led the three to a separate room behind his office. It was easy to see why Denny said what he had said. Located in the room were a folding table and four folding chairs. The four of them had to open a chair just to sit around the table.

  Marcia glared at J Dub. “Can you handle a case like ours?” she said in a condescending manner to Denny. Marcia was sick and tired of fooling around with Lew; she didn’t want to spend any more money than necessary with lawyers and she wanted to make sure that if she was going to pursue a legal avenue that she would have a decent chance of winning.

  “There are some issues that we need to overcome,” Denny started. “But I’ll fight for my clients and I think that we have the law on our side.”

  “Forgive my bluntness but I don’t want to get us into a situation where we mail you a check every month,” Marcia blurted. “We simply don’t have the money to fund an attorney that is on a wild goose chase.”

  “That won’t be the case. I’ve been working with the heirs of the Morton Estate for about ten years,” Denny declared.

  “Ten years!” Marcia exclaimed. “We don’t want to waste that kind of time.”

  “In some ways the work that I have done will benefit you,” Denny said. “I’m a lot farther along in the research and I think that your addition to the case will strengthen it.”

  “What kind of time frame are we looking at?” J Dub asked.

  “Realistically, probably six to eight years,” Denny answered. “With any luck, then we may be able to get it done within eighteen to thirty-six months.”

  “Knowing Lew, he will put up all kinds of resistance. He’ll fight us on every little technicality,” J Dub warned.

  “He already has. I think that your name on any lawsuit will surprise him. The people you will be hooking up with are substantial, despite all that they have lost,” Denny maintained. “We can cause problems for him . . . and well we should. He hasn’t been truthful.”

  “Six to eight years eats up a good portion of our adult life,” Marcia suggested.

  “I don’t think that anyone is too enthused about that,” Denny replied, “but that is the way the system operates. Of course, that is before any appeals.”

  Marcia turned to J Dub. “This is ridiculous. Is all of this really worth it?”

  “Matt and Lucille made it clear that they were doing what they were doing just so that dishonest people would not continue to prosper,” J Dub clarified. “This is not the only piece of property that they lost.”

  “Before I agree to anything,” Marcia started, “I want to know what is involved and how much it is going to cost us. That guy has already disrupted our family life. The last thing that I want is to be married to him for another decade in court . . . especially when we’re footing the bill.” She looked at Denny. “And I certainly don’t want the clock to start on the fees until your butt hits the seat.”

  Denny could see that Marcia was going to be an uncompromising client. “The agreement that I have structured is that the estate will take care of the retainer for my fees. You’ll only have to pay your costs for filings and copying charges.”

  “I can’t imagine that you’ll work for nothing,” Marcia disputed.

  “You can pay me a contingency fee if we win a judgment.”

  Marcia’s mood began to soften. “What will that be?”

  “A third of what we collect.”

  “What are our chances?” Marcia pried.

  After some hesitation Denny said, “Fifty-fifty . . . actually it’s more like seventy-five, twenty-five.”

  “That doesn’t sound very good,” Marcia responded.

  Curt had listened to the exchange and felt the need to explain some things further. “Most lawyers in town won’t touch a case on a contingency basis unless they have at least a ninety percent chance of winning,” he said.

  “Then why does he want to take a case like this?” Marcia queried Curt.

  Curt demurred to Denny. “After hearing the story that the Morton heirs relayed, my heartfelt interests entered the picture. I am a lawyer that wants good to triumph over evil . . . ,” Denny put into plain words.

  “ . . . To the tune of a lot of money. That sort of sounds self-serving,” Marcia rebutted.

  Denny called her bluff. “You don’t have to join the heirs if you don’t want to. You are free to pack your bags and drive into the sunset. Go ahead and start all over in life if you’d like.”

  J Dub wanted to press forward and take a shot at recovering his losses. He turned to Marcia. “It’s not going to be easy, Hon. This gives us a good opportunity to hold our up-front costs down and strengthen our case.”

  Marcia weighed all of the information that had been discussed. Three pairs of male eyes stared at her with the hopes that she would put her good graces onto whatever action that Denny deemed necessary. Deep down Marcia couldn’t tolerate Lew at all. She wanted to see him pay a handsome price for unsettling their life. “What have we got to lose?” Marcia asked. She turned to J Dub and smiled. “I know how much this means to you. Let’s make sure that we’re going to win!”

  Marcia’s blessing was a relief to them. After hearing the tale that the Morton heirs told, the men felt
that a fraud had occurred. The main concern for J Dub was that he was going to have to enter a playing field that was foreign to him. “What did you find out over the last couple of weeks?” J Dub asked Denny.

  “It’s not good.”

  “What happened now?”

  Denny hated to be the bearer of bad news especially after the conversation that had just taken place with Marcia. “My sources told me that the U. S. Attorney’s office has decided not to press charges on the tax evasion situation that the IRS was investigating.”

  J Dub sighed. “I can’t say that it has come totally unexpected. Booker told me that it would be tough if Hackett resigned. Ellie was the main force that wanted to pursue his conviction. Plus, I haven’t heard from him in a few weeks.”

  Denny enlightened the group. “It would have been nice to piggyback behind the criminal charges.”

  “But then any attorney in town would have hopped on this case,” Curt jumped in.

  “There are some things that we can do. We have a lot of the same information that the IRS was utilizing,” Denny added.

  “Have you decided what way to take this thing?” J Dub asked.

  “Not yet. The nice thing is that we have several avenues that are available to us.”

  “Which way are you leaning?”

  “I’m leaning toward federal court,” Denny began. “A tax fraud has no state boundaries. It is a federal condition.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Basically we can file a lawsuit in any federal court,” Denny replied. “So, I’ve been researching federal law.”

  Curt was interested in hearing what the research indicated. “What did you turn up?”

  “Obviously fraud,” Denny answered, “but because the deception involved so many people and lasted for such a long time, I’m thinking that other violations may have occurred.”

  “What sort of violations?” J Dub probed.

  “Maybe some sort of conspiracy to commit a crime. An unjust enrichment charge might have sufficient grounds. Things like that,” Denny replied. “What’s interesting is that there are elements of a conspiracy here. The skimming lasted for a number of years which means that it might have been an ongoing illegal activity between Walter and Lew.”