by James Ross
“The U. S Attorney’s office said that it wasn’t,” J Dub countered.
Denny defended his thoughts. “They said that from a criminal standpoint. All we have to do is to prove that the skimming was ongoing over a number of years for the purposes of a civil lawsuit.”
J Dub’s interest was piqued. “Where does the conspiracy come in?”
“Lew did it with the help and aid of Walter,” Denny declared. “He was your tax man. Even though the IRS couldn’t prove that they acted together, I think that we’ll be able to show that Walter was an agent for the corporation and the two of them acted in conjunction.”
“Will it hold up?”
“Who knows what a judge and jury will say?” Denny replied. “Walter was also an agent for the Morton Estate. The sale of the property may have involved the efforts of several of them too. We know that Lew’s name was on the contract and that George Pierce’s title company closed the transaction. Walter was also involved in the sale since he was the executor.”
J Dub wanted to learn as much as he could about the legal battle that was going to ensue. “ . . . Anything else?”
“The lesser charge of breach of fiduciary duty may apply. We can’t go after too much. We’ll need to keep things simple for the jury,” Denny advised.
“What’s the time frame to start all of this?”
“The Morton heirs want to keep the hammer down. It looks like Lew, with the help of Grady Patterson, will beat them on an adverse possession claim. That will open the door for Lew to sell the property to Norman Pierce. In fact the sale might already be closed. I think that we will document everything, continue our investigation and launch the lawsuit when the time is right,” Denny said as he spelled out his strategy.
“When is that to take place?”
“Who knows? Keep your ears open.”
“What federal court do you want to use?”
“I want to take the case across the river. Let’s get a new venue,” Denny offered. “Walter has offices over there and the estate already has a lawsuit pending in state court over there.”
“But all of the property is in Illinois,” J Dub countered.
“It’s a chance we’ll take,” Denny suggested. “But it may also be something of a trial balloon for us. I want to see exactly how these guys react and plan on defending themselves.”
J Dub fired the questions as fast as he could think of them. “What are we talking about for damages?”
“In looking at the appraisal and all of the lot development and commercial possibilities, the retail value of the property is around forty million dollars,” Denny theorized.
“And it should have been mine,” J Dub lamented, “or at least the rights to it.”
“Remember though, that the estate feels that it should be theirs. The beauty of the punitive damages is that the jury can decide what your injuries were,” Denny explained.
“What’s that?”
“Any damages that the jury decides might very well get tripled,” Denny spelled out.
Marcia was astonished. “Are you talking about one hundred and twenty million dollars?” Marcia shouted.
Denny looked straight at Marcia and nodded. He meant business. “This has been going on for far too long. We want to get the property back for the estate. And in the process you’ve been damaged too. For anything close to that though we’ll have to keep it in federal court.”
“What sort of arrangement will we make with the estate?” J Dub asked.
“You two can discuss that,” Denny proposed. “They don’t want to come after you. We’ll have the two of you sign a conflict of interest release. They only want to get Lew and the people that worked with him to defraud them.”
Marcia looked around the room. The monetary figure that preoccupied her mind was numbing. “Are you sure that you aren’t leading us down a path of no return?” Denny shook his head back and forth. “One hundred and twenty million dollars is like winning the lottery,” she continued.
“We’re not going to mess around with these characters,” Denny assured her. “What they’ve done and gotten away with up until this point in time is heinous.”
Chapter Ninety
Via a quiet title judgment a judge awarded Lew possession of the five-acre tract of land that the Morton heirs had disputed. As incredible as it was, the adverse possession claim that Lew had made survived the justice system. His old friend Grady Patterson had gotten it done.
With the title work cleaned up, Norman closed on the property. Monty was instrumental in drawing up the documents as well as any and all agreements that Lew and Norman would live by in the coming years. The golf course property would be sold to Norman who would then form a corporation to operate the golf course business. Lew and Norman entered into a joint venture agreement to develop the surrounding property into home sites and a shopping center.
The closing occurred late in the day on a Friday afternoon. A celebration followed and the cocktails flowed well into the night. A limousine whisked Lew, Monty and Norman off to dinner and eventually back to Lew’s place for a night of debauchery with a few hired playmates.
It was a major coup for the businessmen. Lew pocketed several million dollars’ worth of cash. Norman had acquired enough property to keep his homebuilding company busy for the next decade. Monty loved the action and whatever remnants of cash that would fall into his lap . . . not to mention the evening that was enjoyed with the hired entertainment.
In the meantime, a slew of people had been working behind the scenes to head the culprits off at the pass. Denny continued his research into the law and the various rights that his clients possessed. The Morton heirs persisted with their efforts to supply as much documentation to Denny to support their claims. J Dub, Marcia and Curt worked with a local title company to obtain a title search as well as a detailed chain of title on the property.
Sean McVoy was a young man in his mid-thirties. He had gotten an opportunity many years earlier to become a partner in FARM and HOME TITLE COMPANY. It turned out to be the perfect occupation for his personality. Not many people possess the ability to research deeds in intricate detail. Hours and hours of exploratory examination at the County Recorder’s Office are needed to ensure a thorough job. Sean always wore a white business shirt and sloppily-tied tie. Even though everyone at the Recorder’s Office knew him, he insisted on wearing a name tag so that he would be easily identifiable. His glasses looked out of date. His words would slobber out of his mouth.
Despite his physical idiosyncrasies, Sean’s work was meticulous. J Dub had heard that no one in the area could research title as well as Sean McVoy, so a detailed order was placed. The results were forthcoming.
“We had heard through the grapevine that some hanky-panky had occurred down there on that piece of property,” Sean started as J Dub took a seat in the conference room of the title company.
J Dub had reached the point in his life when he felt like an inquisitive ten-year old. It seemed like he had a question for every new person that was entering his life. “What sort of hanky-panky?”
“A long time ago we had heard that a questionable transaction had taken place down there,” Sean relayed.
“How so?”
“Oh, you know, someone had pulled a fast one and they had gotten away with it,” Sean reiterated.
“What do you mean?” J Dub pried further.
“The scuttlebutt was that some guys had ripped off an absentee ownership group,” Sean continued. “It was a hot topic when I first started here but the rumors were swept under the table pretty quickly. I haven’t heard another thing about it until you walked in here a few weeks ago and placed the order with us.”
“Is there any truth to the rumor?”
“What a mess!” Sean said as the words drooled out of his mouth. “How are you involved in it?”
“I was a partner in a group that purchased that property back then,” J Dub volunteered.
“Sorry it took me so long,”
Sean said apologetically. “There has been a lot of back and forth movement on that property.”
“How can that be?” J Dub inquired. “We’ve had it in the corporation for a long time.”
“The deeds on the property don’t indicate that,” Sean rebuked. He threw a large stack of deeds onto the conference table. “Here’s your chain of title.”
“All of this stuff is a title search?” J Dub commented as he flipped through the massive stack of paperwork. “Why would one or two transactions cause all of this?”
“Because there were more than one or two transactions,” Sean replied. He rolled out a map that consisted of several colored overlays. “This is a great diagram that will help you understand. Let’s use this. It’s kind of like playing Monopoly.”
J Dub studied the plastic, color-coordinated visual aid. It was obvious that Sean had scrupulously prepared a detailed map. “What in the world have you done?”
“Going through all of those deeds is so confusing. I thought that I would help both of us out by tracking all of the transactions in color. That way it is a little easier to actually see all of the activity that occurred down there,” Sean clarified.
“I’ll try to follow you the best that I can,” J Dub stated.
Sean flipped the first plastic overlay into place. Several parcels of property were covered with yellow acetate. “The yellow indicates all of the property that originally was owned by the estate.”
“How many acres is that?”
“Well over four hundred.”
“That should be correct,” J Dub agreed. That was what Lew said that he originally had under contract. We added some acreage later as we made money.”
“Here’s where it starts to get tricky,” Sean said. He could barely hide his enthusiasm. It was as if he had discovered the pot at the end of the rainbow. Another overlay dropped on top of the yellow acetate. “There was no consideration given for the property in orange.”
“When you say ‘no consideration’ what do you mean?” J Dub inquired. “We paid for the property.”
Sean handed J Dub a deed. “No money was given for this acreage. This parcel is two-hundred and fifty acres. Here is the deed that says that no consideration was given for this property. It’s stamped right on the deed.”
“That’s the property that Lew said that he bought from the estate. The golf course turned around and bought it from him several years later,” J Dub declared puzzled.
“Then he made a big profit on it because he didn’t give them a dime for it,” Sean maintained.
“How can he get away with that?” J Dub asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine. It looks like he gave the contract to a lawyer or a title company and they simply transferred title over to him,” Sean put into plain words. “Why they would have done that without collecting any money is beyond me.”
“That’s like stealing it!” J Dub exclaimed.
Sean looked above his glasses and snuck a peek at J Dub. “I can’t disagree.” He flipped another overlay into place. The acetate was covered in green. “You said that you got a loan for the golf course, right?”
“Yeah, sure we did.”
“The green represents the property that was offered as security on the loan,” Sean indicated.
“You mean the collateral?”
“Yes.”
Sean slid another plastic piece of acetate into place. Red markings covered the grid. “You said that you refinanced the business on several occasions, right?” Sean questioned J Dub.
J Dub nodded his head in agreement.
“The deeds indicate that. Evidently Lew altered the legal descriptions of the collateral. With every refinancing, deeds of release appear to have been issued and recorded. They indicate that different collateral was in place for the different loans.”
J Dub was in a mild state of confusion. “How can the bank let that happen?”
“Once again, your guess is as good as mine. They either didn’t know or didn’t care or maybe didn’t even look at it,” Sean speculated. “And it gets better.”
“More surprises, huh?”
“The last overlay is what’s going to knock your socks off,” Sean said as the saliva started to dribble out of his mouth. He reached for the final overlay. “Evidently, when Lew received the deeds of release from the bank and the collateral was changed, he then quit-claimed the property from the golf course to himself. All of the black represents property that Lew has titled in his personal name.”
Virtually the entire map was black.
“Oh no! Say it isn’t so!” J Dub shouted.
“I wish that I could.”
“How can that be?” J Dub yelled.
“All I do is research at the Recorder’s Office. This was what was indicated,” Sean explained.
“Where did the money go?” J Dub pried.
“We know that it didn’t go to the estate. The tax stamp that indicates ‘No Consideration’ tells us that,” Sean started.
“Help me out a little,” J Dub begged. “We got a bank loan. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know what happened. Unless the money was going to the title company for disbursement and the title company was keeping it. That is so unheard of . . . that it is either stupid or ballsy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s think this through. If you say that the loan was made by the bank, then the money had to go to the title company to be paid to the sellers. But it clearly says on these deeds that nothing was given for the property,” Sean theorized.
“That would mean that the title company kept the money,” J Dub implied. “That was George Pierce.”
“And this evidence confirms the rumors that I heard a long time ago,” Sean deduced.
“Lew got the land, George Pierce got the money, and the estate got nothing!” J Dub shrieked. J Dub gathered the overlays and picked up all of the papers that indicated the chain of title. “This is mind-boggling! I’ve got to get this to my lawyer.”
“Go to the Recorder’s Office and Assessor’s Office and cross reference this information,” Sean advised. “The very thought is so brazen.”
J Dub headed for the door. “When you really think about it, why rob a bank?”
It was Sean’s turn to ask a question. “What are you getting at?”
“Why take a chance by hitting a Brinks driver on Friday afternoon at the local bank? You can get a heckuva lot more by doing it like this,” J Dub hypothesized.
“That’s a valid point. A person’s gain could maybe be twenty times as much. And up to now they’ve gotten away with it,” Sean concurred.
“Pretty disgusting, isn’t it?” J Dub commented as he gathered up the colored maps and headed for the door.
Chapter Ninety-One
The Recorder’s Office was located in the County Courthouse, an old three-storied, red-bricked building surrounded by a town square. It seems like every county seat across mid-America looks the same with its Civil War cannon out front. Majestic oak trees shaded the manicured bluegrass. Pansies and daffodils in the spring were replaced by a variety of multi-colored chrysanthemums in the fall.
J Dub needed to check to see if Sean had omitted anything. Taking Sean’s advice was a good start he thought. He arrived at the courthouse around mid-morning and promptly stumbled up to the counter in the Recorder’s Office. “Can someone please help me?”
A tight-lipped, female clerk named Delores sauntered over. She looked like a housewife that wanted something to do after her children either went off to college or left home to start a family. She had a turned-up nose that made her look snooty. “How can I help?” she offered.
“I’ve got a lot of legal descriptions and parcel numbers,” J Dub began. “Can we check the rightful property owners?”
“It’s all here on the computer.”
“Can you look up Prairie Winds Golf Course?” J Dub asked.
Delores typed several keystrokes onto the keyboard. Nothing seemed
to come up on the screen. “That’s funny. Nothing seems to come up for Prairie Winds Golf Course,” she said.
The questions had started to become a habit for J Dub. “How can that be? Are you sure you typed it in correctly?”
She typed a few more words. “Yes, but I’ll recheck.” A minute or two elapsed as she studied the monitor. “Wait, here’s a past entry.”
J Dub could smell a dead animal on the side of the road. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Sure, I’ll try.”
“Could you look up Lewferd E. Zerrmann and tell me what sort of property he has?”
Delores typed on the keyboard. Six pages of entries popped up on the monitor. “He owns lots and lots of property.”
J Dub muttered under his breath. “It’s all public knowledge, isn’t it?”
“ . . . Of course.”
Rubbing his face in exasperation, J Dub asked “Could you give me a copy of all of his property and when it was titled in his name?”
“Sure,” Delores stated. “We have to charge ten cents for every page.”
“I’ll wait,” J Dub informed her. “Copy everything. I need to know when, where and how he titled property in his own name.”
Delores nodded her head and began the task.
J Dub hit the vending machine a few times. He was on his third candy bar and second beverage when Delores informed him that she was finished. “Here it is,” she declared. “It looks like the property was recently sold. There is a pending transaction that needs to be recorded.”
“Who was it sold to?”
“It looks like N and P Enterprises.”
J Dub thought out loud. “Who is that?”
“You can contact the Secretary of State’s office. They have the principals of every corporation on file.”
“You said N as in Norman and P as in Pierce, right?” J Dub surmised. Delores nodded. “Copy that too,” J Dub advised. “I need all of it.”
J Dub was getting angrier by the minute. Jeez my knees! This is like peeling an onion with all the shady work that has been going on right under my nose! However, his anger inspired him to get on a mission. Not only had he provided a wealth of information to Denny in regard to the financial affairs of the corporation, but now he had gathered important data that supported a fraudulent transfer of property. He headed straight to Denny’s office.