PPJ Healthcare Enterprises Inc (PPJE)

[Ed the Trader]

This is only speculation, but one obvious reason why all parties may be barred from reporting anything about the results of the Settlement Conference, which will begin at 1:30pm Pacific time (4:30pm Eastern/OTC Market time), is that in order for the court case to end in the event of a pre-trial settlement, the attorneys from both sides will have to notify the judge of the existence of a settlement. They will also have to inform the judge that they both agree with the settlement terms, and are willing to dismiss the case. Remember, this is a bi-directional lawsuit so both sides would have to agree to drop their side of the lawsuit.

Even then, it is possible that the judge has to review the settlement terms, and approve them to approve dismissal of the court case, although if that is the case, I cannot imagine the judge not approving the settlement terms.

In spite of all of that speculation about a pre-trial settlement today, I will point out AGAIN (see my earlier postings on the topic) that the press release indicated that it is the expectation that the Settlement Conference MAY assist in resolving SOME issues before the trial begins on 2/26. Presumably, this would be to help the actual trial go smoother and faster.

Although it is certainly possible that a full settlement could be reached today, there is one very important reason why that will probably not occur.

In addition to compensation for a long list of damages, each of which listing specific monetary values, on page 19, lines 1-2, sentence 9 of the "Complaint for Damages" (of which grifter_24 diligently acquired and posted a public copy at http://www.scribd.com/doc/200257910/PPJE-v-Grewal), it states that the plaintiff (ie: PPJ and Basu) seeks "punitive damages in a sum according to proof at time of trial."

In order words, PPJ and Basu want additional compensation above and beyond the direct monetary losses that were incurred to compensate for the damage to the reputation of PPJ and Basu (ie: loss of basically their entire client base from slender originating from Grewal) and lost time (years of life) spent to recover the due compensation, etc. The attorneys for the plaintiff are going to present their case, and the hardships that have had to be endured FOR YEARS in seeking what is right, to 12 good men and women, and ask them to determine what they feel is right and proper and fair compensation for the damages which Grewal has inflicted. Depending on the mood of the jury, these punitive damages could end up being even more than what the listed monetary damages (which include $26,217,498.31 plus interest and attorney's fees) are!

Just remember the millions of dollars that some lady received for being so stupid as to spill hot coffee upon herself. In this case, Basu's only stupidity was trusting a business associate of 11 years who was a corporate officer and member of the board of directors of PPJ... and he screwed her (and PPJ) every way imaginable... and not in a good way.

A sympathetic jury could award Basu and PPJ MANY times in punitive damages beyond what is requested in direct damages. PPJ could easily become a $50 million or $100 million larger corporation by the time this is all completed. People can tabulate what that would do to the book value of the stock.

However, you have to realize that the trial is scheduled to begin on 2/26/2014, and it is scheduled to run for 15 court (ie: working) days, which takes us out to March 18th.

So, remembering that California is in the Pacific time zone, we may not know anything definitive until March 19th. People should set their expectations accordingly.