Company’s suit says attorney assisted in theft (Pdfs)

A Morgan City investment holdings company filed a lawsuit Monday, the second suit the company has filed in a month, alleging an attorney aided and abetted the accused theft co-conspirators in the theft of property and property rights, a company spokesman said.
Capital Management Consultants Inc. in Morgan City filed the civil suit Monday in 16th Judicial District Court against attorney Michael Aloise Jr., of St. Mary Parish, for damages, Capital Management Consultants spokesman Marwan Mohey-El-Dien said.
Mohey-El-Dien provided The Daily Review with the suit Monday morning prior to it being filed.
The Daily Review received confirmation from the St. Mary Parish Clerk of Court’s office at about 3:30 p.m. Monday that the suit had been filed. In addition to the damages sought in the suit, Mohey-El-Dien said the company also is requesting Aloise produce certain documents relative to the case.
Mohey-El-Dien said the company is accusing Aloise of aiding and abetting former Capital Management Consultants’ CPA James Scott Tucker and bookkeeper Karen Duhon. The three are accused of conspiring to commit intentional fraud through theft, misappropriation and embezzlement, Mohey-El-Dien said.
“Basically, what he did is he found ways to be able to get Scott to commit the fraud and to be able to enhance the fraud,” Mohey-El-Dien said. For example, Mohey-El-Dien said Aloise told Tucker how to write certain documents and create false resolutions, both of which were illegal, in order to gain control of property rights to be able to transfer mineral rights, Mohey-El-Dien said.
Aloise said this morning he hoped to have a comment on the suit by Monday. Aloise had not yet seen the suit or the exhibits attached to it, he said. Aloise said he was traveling to the courthouse this morning to view the suit because he had not yet been served.
“We’re suing Michael Aloise for civil fraud, and of course, we believe that his acts were very criminal so we’re pushing that venue as well,” Mohey-El-Dien said.
Earlier this month, Mohey-El-Dien said the company believes the total alleged theft could be up to $30 million dating back to the early 1980s. In the Dec. 30, 2014, suit, the plaintiffs alleged that by working in concert, the accused co-conspirators “were able to steal vast sums of money from the Petitioners and to hide the theft because they were the ‘controls, checks and balances’.”
The suit filed Monday claims Aloise, Tucker and Duhon, fulfilled the object of their conspiracy by preparing a cash deed transferring a lot in Willowcrest subdivision from Capital Management Consultants Inc. to Nelson-Tucker Ltd. for no consideration, preparing a mineral transfer to Nelson-Tucker Ltd. for no consideration, preparing the cash deed to repurchase the same lot in Willowcrest subdivision from Thane Gerald Aucoin and his wife, Sunya Jo Flesch Aucoin, for more than twice the amount of the original purchase price paid by Thane Aucoin and Sunya Aucoin, failing to inform Capital Management Consultants about the aforementioned matters, the suit claims.
According to the civil suit Capital Management Consultants Inc. filed Dec. 30, 2014, Nelson-Tucker LTD, now Nelson-Tucker LLC, is a domestic limited liability company licensed to and doing business in St. Mary Parish and at all times relevant hereto was controlled by James Scott Tucker, according to the suit. Nelson-Tucker was named as a defendant in that suit.
Neither Tucker nor Nelson-Tucker Ltd. paid Capital Management Consultants Inc. any sums of money for the transfer of the immovable property or the mineral interests to Nelson-Tucker Inc., the suit stated.
The fraud, fraudulent transfers and theft alleged in the suit were discovered after Tucker’s sudden and unexpected death on Jan. 22, 2014, the suit stated. One of the Capital Management Consultants Inc.’s shareholders “became suspicious that something was amiss based on moneys Duhon stated she was receiving and asked Mark Munson, Capital Management Consultants Inc.’s new accountant to look into the matter.”
The suit alleges that Aloise knew that Tucker’s insider transactions regarding the transfer of Capital Management Consultant Inc.’s property and mineral rights were not transactions in the ordinary course of business, and that he knew that any instructions from Tucker regarding these transfers were not lawful. The suit alleges that Aloise’s response that “I do not have a clue. I only prepared what Scott asked of me,” is a breach of his duty to Capital Management Consultants Inc.
On Jan. 9, 2004, Aloise invoiced Capital Management Consultants Inc., for the preparation of a cash deed for a lot in Willowcrest subdivision, the suit claims. For his legal services, he charged Capital Management Consultants Inc. $200 for the Cash Deed preparation illegally transferring Lot 11-B to Tucker and/or Nelson-Tucker Ltd. now Nelson-Tucker LLC, $25 for the recording of the Plat and $33 for the recording of the cash deed, the suit said. Capital Management Consultants Inc. paid Aloise’s invoice in full, according to the suit.
On Jan. 27, 2004, Aloise, on behalf of Capital Management Consultants Inc., prepared a cash deed transferring a lot in Willowcrest Subdivision in Berwick from Capital Management Consultants Inc. to Thane Gerald Aucoin and his wife Sunya Jo Flesch Aucoin, the suit claims. The consideration was $168,900, the suit stated. For his legal services, Aloise invoiced Capital Management Consultants Inc. $200 for the preparation of the cash deed and $33 for the recording fees, the suit claims. Capital Management Consultants Inc. paid Aloise’s invoice in full, according to the suit.
From at least Oct. 31, 2006, through June 20, 2014, Aloise performed legal services for Capital Management Consultants Inc. regarding the Mortgage Note R.J. Businelle Co. Inc. to Capital Management Consultants Inc., the suit claims.
The suit alleges that because Tucker knew of an offer to lease the property in Willowcrest subdivision for exploration and extraction of natural resources including, minerals and oil and gas, and in order to make his percentage of royalties/lease payments greater, he devised a scheme with Aloise to reacquire the lot from Thane Aucoin and his wife, Sunya Aucoin, so that he could transfer the mineral rights to his company Nelson-Tucker, Ltd., now Nelson-Tucker, LLC, the suit claims.
On Nov. 12, 2008, in further of the alleged scheme , the suit accused Aloise and Tucker of preparing a cash deed transferring the lot in Willowcrest subdivision from Thane Aucoin and Sunya Jo Aucoin to Capital Management Consultants Inc., the suit claims. Tucker is accused of using Capital Management Consultants Inc.’s money to pay Thane Gerald Aucoin and Sunya Aucoin $375,000, the suit alleges. This is the same property that Capital Management sold to Thane Aucoin and his wife Sunya Aucoin on or about Jan. 27, 2004, for $168,900 a difference of $206,100, the suit claims.
On Sept. 2, 2011, Aloise provided legal services to Capital Management Consultants Inc. regarding the Hedgerow Subdivision Ownership and Act of Correction. Aloise invoiced Capital Management Consultants Inc. for his legal services in the amount of $1,000, the suit claims. Capital Management Consultants Inc. paid Aloise’s invoice in full, according to the suit.
On April 27, 2012, Aloise, in concert with Tucker, prepared, notarized and recorded a cash deed transferring a lot in Willowcrest subdivision from Capital Management Consultants Inc. to Nelson-Tucker Ltd., the suit claims. The consideration set forth by Aloise on cash deed was $10 and other valuable consideration, the suit stated. This is the same lot repurchased in the fraudulent transfer scheme conceived by James Scott Tucker and Aloise, according to the suit.
The suit alleges that Aloise assisted Tucker and Duhon in the drafting of an illegal resolution appointing Tucker as president and Duhon as secretary of Capital Management Consultants Inc., knowing that they did not have authority to do so, had not been elected by Capital Management Consultants Inc.’s Board of Directors to serve in such capacities; and knowing that they did not have the authority to act in such capacity.
This illegal resolution, the suit claims, purported to authorize and empower Tucker and Duhon jointly or either one of them to purchase immovable property, sell, convey, or transfer immovable property as well as transferring mineral, gas, oil and sulfur rights that were owned by Capital Management Consultants Inc., according to the suit.
The timing of this particular act was just prior to Tucker transferring, with the assistance of Aloise, to himself mineral rights that were owned by Capital Management Consultants Inc., the suit stated.
Capital Management Consultants is claiming conspiracy from a civil standpoint, Mohey-El-Dien said. Company officials believe that a criminal conspiracy took place, and that avenue is being investigated, he said.
The first suit claimed that Tucker was able to control the amounts reported in the accounts, books and records of Capital Management Consultants Inc. to disguise the theft and fraud. Tucker was also in charge of the accounting for the related entities therefore, the movement of funds among the entities at the end of the year by Tucker could not be detected, the suit stated.
In court documents cited in the suit Aloise said, “It is important to note to the court that … I have never been employed as an attorney for Capital Management Consultants Inc. … I will point out that there have been over 140 transactions recorded in the office of St. Mary Parish Clerk of the Court, and all but one or two of these were signed by James Scott Tucker. To suggest that I should have contacted someone about the transfer of mineral rights is ludicrous.”
The suit accuses Aloise of knowing that Tucker was an officer of Capital Management Consultants Inc. and that Tucker had a fiduciary duty and owed a duty of loyalty to Capital Management Consultants Inc. in making all decisions in his capacity as a corporate fiduciary, the suit stated.
Furthermore, the suit alleges that Aloise knew that Tucker was required to act without personal economic conflict. Aloise is accused of assisting Tucker in his self-dealing and the taking of corporate opportunities by transferring mineral rights and immovable property to Nelson-Tucker Ltd. knowing that Nelson-Tucker Ltd. was controlled by Tucker, according to the suit.
“In the alternative if, as Aloise claims, he merely notarized acts, he, as a notary public is still liable for any loss, or damage, to any one injured by his negligence or neglect of duty,” the suit stated.
The suit accuses Tucker and Aloise of having a professional relationship and friendship, and alleges that Tucker hired Aloise to perform legal services for Capital Management Consultants Inc. Aloise and James Scott Tucker in concert with each other and Karen Duhon, developed a scheme to defraud Capital Management Consultants Inc. and to fraudulently transfer immovable property and mineral interests belonging to Capital Management Consultants Inc.,” the suit claims.
After James Scott Tucker’s death, the shareholders of Capital Management Consultants Inc., on or about March 17, 2014, sent emails to Aloise requesting an explanation of the fraudulent transactions, the suit stated. Aloise responded by stating, “I do not have a clue. I only prepared what Scott asked of me. I suggest that you contact Thane. I do not have any knowledge as to why the sales prices were what they are shown as in the deeds. Perhaps the sales price to Thane was to discourage him from building, as in making an offer he could not refuse.” The suit claims that Aloise’s response does not pass the “smell test.”