$8.9 Million RICO Award|Against Tech Firm

LAS VEGAS (CN) - A federal judge ordered Canadian tech company ISee3D to pay a financial consultant $8.9 million for state and federal RICO violations.

ISee3D must pay $2,966,062 in actual damages and $5,932,123 in punitive damages to Panliant Financial, U.S. District Judge James Mahan ordered on July 2. Interest and costs will be determined later.

A federal judge dismissed the original complaint on Jan. 16 due to Panliant Financial's inability to serve ISee3D until 185 days after a court-ordered deadline. It refiled the complaint on Jan. 28 .

Panliant accused British Columbia-based ISee3D of three counts of federal RICO violations, one count of Nevada RICO violations and bad faith and intentional and negligent misrepresentation.

ISee3D did not respond and a default judgment was issued .

Panliant said ISee3D hired it as a financial consultant in 2007 and it helped the company restructure to reduce its debt.

Co-plaintiffs Alan G. Smith and A.G. Solutions, also of British Columbia, were shareholders in Panliant along with Dwight Romanica, according to the renewed lawsuit.

It claimed Romanica became CEO of ISee3D's Montreal operation in 2008, after that entity accepted funding from Panliant, which Panliant had obtained from Smith.

After becoming CEO in Montreal, Panliant said, Romanica forced Smith out of his CEO position. Romanica then performed the services for which Panliant had been contracted and through which Panliant and Smith intended to recoup the money loaned to ISee3D and generate a profit, according to Panliant.

Smith said in an affidavit that Romanica and others at ISee3D used fraudulent information to accuse him of inside trading and falsifying checks, and made it look like the accusations came from an auditor, in an effort to wipe out debt owed to A.G. Solutions, fire Smith and force Smith to surrender shares in Panliant.

Romanica was not named as a defendant.

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