Jed and I spent two days in San Antonio going through the
investor fraud files. We have a much clearer picture of what
went on. The Brices removed $9 million from an undercapitalized
company in 1992, 93 and 95. That is in addition to the more
than $12 million that was stolen. The company was selling its
name on a swindle, refusing to provide product to the stores,
knowing that they were pulling out of business.
At the same time the company was being decapitalized
through the apparently lawful withdrawal of assets, Hugh Scott
and the Brices were extremely busy wining and dining investors,
outright lying to them, hanging up pictures of Hugh Scott in
Brice Foods corporate office, with the statement: "Hugh Scott,
Our Great Partner." There was a ton of meetings at the homes of
investors, with Hugh Scott and the Brices having dinner, all
kinds of push. But as soon as the money was handed over to Hugh
Scott, it disappeared.
Hugh Scott told the investors that he would deposit each
investor's money into a segregated account. He didn't. All
monies went into one account, where it was filtered out in an
amazing tangle of tens of thousands of checks. The tangle was
sufficient to have the case designated a complex case due to
the bookkeeping problems. To date, even after trial, the
attorneys for the 25 investors who were not represented by Jeff
Rusk, are still uncertain as to how much money was stolen and
remain uncertain as to where it is. Hugh Scott tells them that
he has spent the $3,000,000 that they have pegged Hugh Scott as
keeping. And they have an outstanding $1.5 million fraud and
conspiracy judgment with punitive damages for willful conduct
against Scott.
This outstanding judgment is against Hugh Scott, the single
most active individual in the criminal partnership. It is
probably this judgment that is creating the pressure to push
this murder off on your sons and husbands. As long as those
investor, now judgment creditors have the right to look, they
might look into the $12,000,000 death claim transaction. Once
you have a judgment, the field of inquiry into the financial
conduct of the scheme participants is quite broad. If put to
use by the investors, it could open Brice Foods wide open. All
it takes is one deposition.
Rusk seems to have panicked early. When the group of
investors from Dallas decided to do something, they started to
audition attorneys. Jeff Rusk somehow managed to get is foot in
the door. Jeff Rusk exclusively personal injury and to my
knowledge hasn't tried a case in years. So why did he suddenly
come forward to represent this investors?
Once he was selected, Rusk filed a lawsuit and then
(amazingly) Rusk filed anadditional 39 interventions. How did
Jeff Rusk find out who else had been swindled in the Brice
Foods fraud scheme? It is my guess that the Brices told him. In
discovery, the Brices refused to give the names of any other
investors that had been swindled. So where is Rusk coming up
with all these individuals in a 3 week period?
Jeff took a completely different approach different
approach than did Leon Simons of Houston. Leon tried the case
to a jury verdict. Rusk simply disappeared and one day
announced that the case was going to settle for as little as
.20 on the $1.00. This was done before the other case was
tried. As of right now, not one of the former clients of Jeff
Rusk no anything about the San Antonio case that went to a jury
trial. That's 75 people that know nothing about the Brice
officers and Hugh Scott getting hit with fraud and
conspiracy.
The good news is that we are talking with the investors
with the intent of getting them to meet with us and to file a
suit naming Rusk, Minton, Hugh Scott and the Brices. The
purpose of the suit will be to inquire into the $12 million
transaction.
I would like to start engaging in an e-mail discussion
about asking the press questions about the $12 million.