Scammed by business partner - want to file fraud case against him

[Colinl22]

I've been scammed by my business partner. It's been a year ago last month I met this guy I helped as his real estate agent 4 years prior. Suddenly he comes up out of the blue, we formed an oral agreement to start a 50/50 partnership. for a 4 month period, I, not him, raised $250K by asking 8 investors/friends/or business people to invest in this new company. Partner turns out he lied to me, spent all the money, I got stuck with $90K debt. $32K on a $5K company credit card I opened and he racked up. Yep, how do you rack up $32K on a $5K max spending limit? He knows the system and how to fool the bank. turns out he has filed 6 BK's already in 3 states over past 10 years.

I as the supposed CFO have been dealing with the 8 investors that lost out because everyone now knows he is a scam artist and makes a living borrowing other peoples money. He and I were 50/50 on ONE thing...he actually paid half of a $12K debt to pay off one of the investors that was threatening us with a mob.

The other investors are threatening lawsuits. Two bounced a check from our now defunked company before I closed the 2 bank accounts and paid the banks their neg. balances of $5K.

I have 2 best friends in this, myself and 2 former business clients from my other business in this. I signed a operating partnership agreement but noticed during this whirlwind, he never did.

I have back statements and credit card statements showing he spent me credit, my money and the other investors money.
I paid $14K back in the past 3 months to investor debt. Owe another $180K to them. I also want to press fraud / scam artist charges against him OR now that he is working for a real estate broker... I'd like to garnish his wages from his upcoming commission check.

With no formal agreement signs... he ruined my credit, my financial life and my reputation.... what can I do to build a case agianst him in either a civil or crimminal case?

I prefer civil first to go for a wage garnishment order.... end of the money hopes of getting anything back will be the day I file crimminal charges for fraud. Can this be under company embezzelment fraud or just under scam fraud for lying to me and spending my credit and money?

Please help me? I need a lawyer to help take this case. I am out $20K cash, $32,800 on a credit card I closed and now defaulted on, $21K loan I had to take out to cover a bad business deal he did, plus the payments I've been making to investors without him even though he keeps agreeing to pay his half of the investor debt.

What can I do to report fraud? Or get a wage garnishment against him?

[Paul]

Sorry to hear about this! It happens all the time.

Of course civil and criminal are two different animals.

In either case you need to prepare a portfolio of “evidence” to present to a DA or an attorney. These cases are not always as easy to win as you may think. The burden of proof is on you.

The most important aspect is where exactly did the money go? Was money transferred to his own account, spent on personal purchases or transferred to cohorts? You will have to show it was actually ‘stolen”, not just wasted on bad deals etc. Fraud is fraud but you can’t be charged with stupidity or bad business judgment.

Another big question is does he even have the ability to pay or anything to lien like a house or other assets.

You obviously need a lawyer, at least for the civil. A lawyer can review your documents (evidence) to determine if you have a case, and of course file civil if you do. A lawyer may be able to leverage the threat of criminal to secure a settlement, as a strategy.

On criminal, this guy may have a history of similar scams. I think filing multiple bankruptcies in itself may be criminal (not sure). There may actually be other cases pending against him. Once you have the evidence together you can present it to the authorities. If he has other criminal fraud cases it may get included. Often these guys pull a scam to pay off a previous scam...it becomes a way of life.

It's a shame there are people like that BUT they are out there.

[Freelancier]

You start with getting an attorney. I'd look for a firm of attorneys who handle both civil and criminal, because although he signed the checks that were bogus, your name was on the account as well, so that puts you in the crosshairs for a while. Doesn't have to be a large firm, just one where you can get both types of help in the same room at the same time.

This is going to get expensive for you, so don't be in a hurry to pay the debts he's run up. Once you have the attorneys involved, they'll want to get the investors to join in the civil suit (and the investors might be in a position to fund the suit as well). But one foot in front of the other: find the attorneys to represent you and your interests.