A Clearwater, Florida, based Company which was accused of defraudeding the owner of a crane company in Illinois lost its trial on Tuesday when a six- member jury ruled against it for taking a prepayment for a crane lease without giving anything in return.
This complaint is one of several against Global Funding LLC by angry customers. Some of these complaints are under investigation by four government agencies.
Marty Vogel, whose owns a business called 'The Crane Guy', stated that after he sent Global Funding a check for $4,183.46, the company stopped taking his calls and never returned his money. Managing Member of Global Funding, Jeffrey Maricle on the other hand, stated that his wife faxed and e-mailed Vogel after he signed a contract proposal and sent money, but Vogel failed to supply credit information needed to underwrite a lease.
The Florida Attorney General's Office is currently investigating at least 45 complaints made by other customers who claim that the company failed to return advance payments when equipment lease deals turned sour.
Marcile says he was simply following standards set by the industry when he kept some or all of his customer's advance payments for leases that were never carried out because the customers did not keep their side of the bargain. His company shut down at the end of October this year as lending sources dried up with the slump in the economy.
After deliberating for an hour, the jury found Global Funding LLC guilty of breach of contract, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing and fraud.
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