The latest case featuring ClassicStar and GeoStar’s mare-leasing scheme featured the defendants leasing out mares they didn’t own and leasing less-valuable quarter horses and misrepresenting them to be Thoroughbred mares. On July 18, 2013, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a $65 million award to victims of the scheme. In re ClassicStar Mare Lease Litig., — F.3d —, 2013 WL 3476220 (6thCir. July 18, 2013). Guest blogger B. Paul Husband wrote about ClassicStar’s litigation with the IRS in 2011.
In the recent case, a group of investors sued the ClassicStar defendants in federal district court in Kentucky. They alleged that the defendants had violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) by persuading them to invest in the mare-leasing program in order to profit from various tax deductions. They also asserted common-law fraud and breach-of-contract claims.
The basic tax concept was that investors would lease a breeding mare for a single season. The mare would be paired with a stallion for breeding purposes, and investors could keep any resulting foals. If investors kept their foals for at least two years before selling them, the sale would be taxed at the lower capital-gains tax rate.
The district court granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs, ruling that the undisputed facts established violations of the RICO statute, as well as fraud and breach of contract. The Sixth Circuit affirmed, noting that the investors did not know “that the assets which formed the basis of the touted tax deductions were dramatically undervalued and, in some cases, wholly fictitious.”
The appellate court made the critical point that, “[a]lthough investors were repeatedly told that they were leasing actual horses, ClassicStar never owned anywhere near the number of horses purportedly being leased.” In other words, the defendants leased out horses they didn’t own or that didn’t exist.
The court continued, “[t]o disguise the shortfall and convince investors that they were purchasing interests in actual horses, Defendants substituted less valuable quarter-horses for the Thoroughbreds that were supposed to be part of the packages, and in many cases, simply did not name the horses that investors believed they were purchasing.”
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the award of $49.4 million plus $15.6 million in prejudgment interest. The damages were three times the amount of the plaintiffs’ investments, as treble damages are available under the RICO statute. Collecting the judgment, however, may be complicated by ClassicStar’s bankruptcy and extensive other litigation against ClassicStar.
About the Author: Toby Galloway is a partner in the Fort Worth office of Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP. Before joining Kelly Hart, he served as an attorney for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for over 11 years. Find Toby’s full biography here.