I Guess Biden Won't Be the VEEP either....

might not be the most sympathetic character.

TWICE BIDEN, NEVER SHY
DEUTSCHE BANK EXEC FILES $10M HEDGE-FUND SUIT
By DAREH GREGORIAN

Posted: 3:56 am
August 6, 2008

A Deutsche Bank executive has filed a $10 million suit against the son and brother of Delaware senator - and possible Democratic vice presidential candidate - Joe Biden.

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Stephane Farouze claims that Biden's son Hunter and brother James "engaged in an elaborate scheme to defraud" him in a multimillion dollar business deal back in 2006.

The suit is the second accusing Biden's relatives of financial funny business in their deal to buy hedge fund firm Paradigm Cos.

Farouze's suit names Washington lobbyist Hunter Biden, James Biden, and James' former business partner Anthony Lotito as defendants.

Farouze, who's now global head of fund derivatives for Deutsche Bank, claims the trio and LBB, the company the three had formed together, entered into a deal to buy his membership interests in Paradigm Cos. in May 2006.

While the Bidens took control of the company, they never paid Farouze the cash they'd agreed to pay, the suit says.

The scheme also claims they had enough cash to live up to the terms of the contract when they didn't, the suit says.

The Bidens' lawyer, Nicholas Gravante Jr., said he hasn't seen the suit and couldn't comment.

In the earlier suit, filed in January 2007, Lotito accuses Hunter and Jim Biden of allegedly using one of Sen. Joe Biden's former colleagues to try and force their then-lawyer to drop his legal fees.

"Ultimately, the Bidens threatened to use their alleged connections with a former United States Senator to retaliate against counsel for insisting that his bill be paid, claiming that the former senator was prepared to use his influence with a federal judge to disadvantage counsel in a proceeding then pending before that court," the Lotito suit says.

The Bidens' lawyer said Lotito has yet to back up the claim - and that it is Lotito who is scamming the Bidens.

the Bidens.

Thank you JIOOU!

I don't know about you, but I have my tinfoil hat on.

First the bs about Edwards . . . now this.

Should we be expecting some scam about Kaine and Bayh coming out soon?

:shrug:

:wtf: or else this isn't about being connected to Senator Joe Biden.

I know next to nothing about banking/finance/whatnot

http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPersonId=918175

Stephane Farouze

Director at
Tarrant Apparel Group
Los Angeles, California
CONSUMER GOODS / TEXTILE - APPAREL CLOTHING
Director since May 2003

39 years old

Stephane Farouze has served as a director since May 2003. Mr. Farouze is currently a Managing Director with Deutsche Bank AG. Previously, from May 2003 to mid 2006, Mr. Farouze was Managing Director of Paradigm Global Advisors. From March 2000 to November 2000, Mr. Farouze was employed as the Global Head of Sales and Restructuring of Societe General Asset Management. From March 1998 to February 2000, Mr. Farouze was Head of Foreign Exchanges for the Italian Market for BNP. Mr. Farouze received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Arts and Sciences and a Business Administration (Finance) degree from San Diego State University in 1992.

From Jan 2007 (right before Biden announced he would run for Pres) from Bloomberg:

``Before Mr. Lotito brought this lawsuit, he made an agreement with Hunter and James Biden severing what had become an unhappy business relationship with them,'' according to the statement. ``He acknowledged the existence of disputes with Hunter and James Biden, as well as his belief that it was in the best interests of the parties for him to transfer his partnership interests to them.''

So - this Lotito guy severed his business relationship with Hunter and James....and then there's this:

Lotito's lawsuit is timed to take advantage of publicity surrounding Senator Biden's planned presidential campaign, according to the statement from Syracuse. Senator Biden's office didn't return calls and e-mails seeking comment.

Bingo - I smell something fishy, and it's not me ;) It sounds like this guy backed out of a business deal and now pissed about it. Funny how this only comes out to hurt Joe politically, when Joe had nothing to do with it!

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=az1yOllYC1Sg&refer=home

That Biden said he's not accepting the VP position.

Well, it seems that even the powerful get duped in their dealings. From the Washington Post, comes the story of Hunter and James Biden, sons of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), who are suing a former business partner for fraud, claiming he lied about his professional credentials and finances. One of the claims is that the partner, Anthony Lotito Jr., falsely claimed he held securities licenses in order to lure the Biden brothers as partners in a $21.3 million acquisition of a hedge fund investment.

Many business owners don't check carefully into their partners' backgrounds before making the partnership leap. But you'd have thought that with that kind of money at stake, they'd have looked into it a little more carefully . . . ?

http://www.askthebusinesslawyer.com/blog/2007/4/4/doing-your-partnership-due-diligence.html

It DOES sound very fishy indeed.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a4ItZ3FO7z68

Lobbyist Biden's Suit Against Former Hedge Fund Partner Dropped

By Thom Weidlich and Jenny Strasburg

Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- A judge threw out a lawsuit in which Washington lobbyist R. Hunter Biden accused a former business partner of lying about his professional credentials during negotiations to buy an investment firm.

Biden, son of U.S. Senator Joseph Biden, and James Biden, the senator's brother, sued Anthony Lotito Jr. in February, claiming Lotito hid debts and falsely claimed he had securities licenses, in an effort to lure them as partners in the $21.3 million acquisition of New York-based Paradigm Cos.

``The connection between Lotito's alleged misrepresentations and the losses alleged to have been incurred by defendants is tenuous at best,'' Judge Bernard J. Fried of state court in New York said Sept. 10 in a written ruling.

Fried dismissed the suit without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled. The Bidens will file again with additional details, their lawyer, Nicholas Gravante Jr. of Boies, Schiller & Flexner in New York, said in an interview.

The Bidens' suit was a counterclaim filed after Lotito, 50, sued them in January. He accused them of illegally excluding him from a takeover of Paradigm Cos. while negotiating a better deal for themselves.

Hunter Biden, 37, stepped down in January from daily oversight of Paradigm Global Advisors, a unit of Paradigm Cos. that invests client money in hedge funds. He became chairman of the firm, founded in 1991. Biden is also a lobbyist with Washington-based Oldaker, Biden & Belair LLP, which he co-founded.

2006 Agreement

Last year, the Bidens agreed to a partnership with Lotito that would pay him $25,000 a month to find investors for the Paradigm buyout. Lotito ``failed to secure even one investor,'' and all agreed last September to end the partnership, LBB Holdings USA LLC, according to the Bidens' complaint. Lotito misleadingly described himself as ``an accredited, experienced securities professional,'' the Bidens claimed.

In dismissing the Bidens' countersuit, Fried said a ``sophisticated business person'' usually can't argue he relied on misrepresentations if he didn't use ``ordinary intelligence'' to discover the true nature of a transaction.

Fried denied Lotito's request to void his buyout agreement based on the court papers, and that issue may go to trial. The judge set a hearing for Oct. 15.

Lotito accused the Bidens of squeezing him out of the Paradigm deal after he introduced them to executives of the firm in January 2006.

New Work

Hunter Biden was looking for a job outside lobbying in anticipation of Joseph Biden's presidential campaign, according to Lotito's complaint.

The senator isn't a party in the lawsuit. His chief of staff, Alan Hoffman, said Lotito used the senator's name in his lawsuit only to draw attention to his claims.

Brian Wille of Kostelanetz & Fink in New York, who represents Lotito, declined to comment.

Lotito is suing Paradigm-related entities including BGPC Advisors LLC, which is controlled by the Bidens and wholly owns Paradigm Global Advisors. Paradigm Global Advisors isn't a defendant.

The case is Lotito v. Biden, 07/600045, New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Manhattan).

What hit the news today is basically the same story as the Lotito story.

Same story, different players.

The timing of this is too suspicious...first lawsuit before Biden announces his candidacy, second one when he is seriously being considered to be veep.

I think we need to wait it out and see what hits the press in the next couple of days.

Once you do a little research, the whole story takes on a different light.

I was sued over a contract dispute, it was unpleasant and expensive, but didn't mean I was a horrible person.

thanks to your experience, I find comfort in the fact that it's pretty run of the mill stuff.

it certainly didn't have anything to do with any other part of my life. Even if Joe was named in the suit, it wouldn't be a big deal. People get sued all the time for stupid shit, and generally there's no scandal there, IMO.

Some countries make the sue-er pay for frivolous lawsuits. They are less likely to pull this kind of garbage.