2000 TX lawsuit against Jehu Hand, Jeremiah Learned Hand, Hand & Hand, et al for SECURITIES FRAUD and 2002 JUDGMENT
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas (Amarillo), CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 2:00-cv-00136-J
The Plaintiffs: several Texas investors
The Defendants: Jehu Hand, Jeremiah Hand Aka Learned J. Hand, Hand & Hand, A Law Corporation, SoCal Securities, Inc., and Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. D/B/A Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
The FACTUAL BACKGROUND, from the complaint:
13. In April 1998, Jeremiah Hand a/k/a Learned J. Hand (referred to hereinafter as “Jeremiah”) was Associate Vice President – Investments at Dean Witter in its San Diego, California, office. At that same time, Jeremiah and Dean Witter had established a position of trust and confidence with plaintiff Joel Wolfson (referred to hereinafter as “Joel”) because Jeremiah and Dean Witter had been the brokers for and managed a trust account for Tania Wolfson, Joel’s mother, until the time of her death on April 4, 1998. Thereafter, Joel inherited his mother’s account, became its trustee, and continued to use Jeremiah and Dean Witter as the brokers for and managers of the trust account. At the same time, Jehu Hand (referred to hereinafter as “Jehu”), Jeremiah’s brother, was Chief Executive Officer of SoCal and Chief Executive Officer and controlling shareholder in Hand & Hand. At all times relevant to this case, Jeremiah, Jehu, Dean Witter, and SoCal were registered broker-dealers with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
14. In late April, May, and June, 1998, Jeremiah and Jehu, by and through their respective positions at Dean Witter, SoCal, and Hand & Hand, began engaging in a series of fraudulent misrepresentations and predictions by phone and in personal meetings with plaintiffs to solicit the sale of securities. At least one of the personal meetings with plaintiffs took place within the Northern District of Texas. Jeremiah and Jehu solicited plaintiffs to purchase shares of stock in a shell corporation which Jehu served as president, Las Vegas Airlines, Inc., a Delaware corporation, (referred to hereinafter as “the Company”). Defendants represented to defendants that the Company had purchased Las Vegas Airlines, a Nevada corporation, and planned to expand its operations to the Virgin Islands in August 1998, under the name of Virgin Islands International Airlines (hereinafter referred to as “VIIA”).
15. Defendants made the misrepresentations and predictions to plaintiffs in order to induce them to invest in the Company, each ofwhich was not true at the time the representation was made and was material to plaintiffs in their decision to invest in the Company. These misrepresentations and predictions include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. The Company already owned Las Vegas Airlines, a Nevada Corporation.
b. The Company was going to begin operation of VIlA in August 1998.
c. The Company was in sound financial condition.
d. The money from plaintiffs stock purchases would be used to purchase and/or lease aircraft for VIlA and get the Company listed on the NASDAQ exchange.
e. The stock was going to increase in value by 1,000% in a year.
f. The stock was to be restricted for only one year.
Causes of Action: Section 1O(b) ofthe Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Ru1e 10b-5, Section 12(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 33 of the Texas Securities
Act, Section 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, common law fraud, false representations under section 27.01 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, false promises to do an act under section 27.01 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, negligent misrepresentations, constructive fraud and a breach of a fiduciary duty, vice-principal liability, breach of contract, negligence.
Here is the entire original complaint:
4-27-2000-Complaint
This complaint was apparently amended and the defendants submitted their COUNTER CLAIMS.
On 5/9/2002 the jury found for the investors and against Jeremiah Learned Hand and his brother Jehu Hand.
However, the bulk of the judgment was for ATTORNEYS FEES and COSTS:
Actual losses awarded: $18,790
Attorneys fees and costs: $229,110 and $46,848
Here is the distribution agreement:
distribution-judgment-pub
The Hand brothers paid this judgment IN FULL in January 2005 and a reader faxed me the judgment and all sorts of information AFTER the North Carolina kangaroo court ordered me in 2010 to remove all TRUE information about another Hand brothers “investment opportunity” from my websites. On 10/10/12 I was ordered in Kingman Arizona Superior Court to remove postings that in my opinion did not violate the 2010 order, but fortunately judge Conn allowed me to post documents and a transcript from THIS action (I will update with the link once I had time to scan and post the documents) and we might well end up in the Arizona court of appeals.
Incredibly, California securities lawyers Jehu Hand states at his website as of 9/30/12:
Mr. Hand was a director of Worldwide Manufacturing Company USA in 2005 and again in 2010, and a director and president of Albion Aviation, Inc. from 2000 to March 2003. He is also President, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Cozumel Marine, engaged in buying, selling and refitting luxury yachts, and was Chief Financial Officer of Natural Blue, Inc. from September 2010 to June 2011. In 1998 he was President and Director of Las Vegas Airlines, Inc. and the owner of the Gomel Wildcats, a professional basketball team in Belarus. [emphasis added]
Jehu Hand links to lawsuits he filed, but of course he does NOT mention the Las Vegas Airlines lawsuit and the jury verdict against him.
Before you invest in ANY penny stock, please study the Las Vegas Airline complaint and understand that the plaintiffs were so traumatized by the litigation, that they were still looking for the Hands’ activities 8 years after the jury ruled in their favor and 5 years after the Hands paid the judgment.
Presumably, the attorneys for the investors took the Las Vegas Airlines case because they thought Morgan Stanley / Dean Witter would PAY and I don’t know why they were dismissed. Many of the penny stock fraudsters are judgment proof (corporations, LLCs, friends and family hold their assets) and it is very difficult to collect a judgment.
NONE of the investors were adequately compensated.
The stress of the litigation was enormous and in the end, they got nothing for the aggravation.
While I have never invested in any stock, I learned through my research (lots of info is at my Penny Stock Fraud site) that the investors who make a killing on penny stocks KNOW that it’s a fraud, but they buy EARLY (prior to the pump) and they sell when the promoters are selling. Of course it takes INSIDER INFORMATION to find out whether and when a stock will be promoted. Also, be aware of restrictions (one of the issues in the Las Vegas Airlines complaint) so that you don’t end up NOT being able to sell before the dump, as happened to the Las Vegas Airlines investors.
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2000 TX lawsuit against Jehu Hand, Jeremiah Learned Hand, Hand & Hand, et al for SECURITIES FRAUD and 2002 JUDGMENT
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