$300,000 Business Scam Alleged

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (CN) - Silver Leaf Capital Partners used a string of lies to defraud two people of $300,000, the man and woman claim in Salt Lake County Court.

Plaintiff Matthew Lee says he attended a Silver Leaf "seminar" given by defendants Cory Moore and Jody Rasmussen. They portrayed Silver Leaf as a successful real estate company that also invested in start-up companies. A few days after the meeting, Lee says, a Silver Leaf agent approached him and plaintiff Nicole Lindley and persuaded them to put $100,000 into a so-called start-up toy company called GarageCo. They say the agent personally guaranteed their investment, which would be returned to them within 120 days, "and they would then still have their equity position in GarageCo through which they could enjoy phenomenal ongoing profits."

Lee and Lindley say Silver Leaf and co-defendants Shane Baldwin and Jake Reid then persuaded each of them to sink another $100,000 into another phony deal.

They say the Utah Securities Division issued an order this summer in which it found that Silver Leaf falsely claimed that its "sole" business was to refer customers to Merrill Lynch, and made a string of other misrepresentations.

Plaintiffs want their money back, and punitive damages. They are represented by Victor Sipos with the Utah Litigation Center.

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