SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) - Parents of a slain professional wakeboarder turned businessman claim in court that their son's business partner, and alleged killer, stole his identity to "convert and fraudulently transfer (his) assets."
Steve and Debi Smith sued their son Chris's business partner Edward Shin and others in Orange County Court.
Shin was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 28, 2011 while about to board a flight to Canada, according to contemporary news reports. "He was charged with a felony count of 'special circumstances murder for financial gain,'" Chris's parents say. "At first, Shin confessed to the homicide. Later, he recanted his confession."
The parents also sued Chris's and Shin's business, The 800 Exchange LLC; Shin's father, James Shin; Edward Shin's wife, Karen Shin; Shin's alleged accomplice Kenny Kraft; 800 Exchange vice president, and Chris's lawyer Ernesto Aldover.
According to the parents' complaint, the story began in 2008, when Edward Shin and Chris Smith worked for competing sales lead generators, Chris for Los Angeles-based LeadPoint and Shin for LG Technologies in the San Fernando Valley.
Unbeknownst to his bosses at LG, Shin allegedly started his own lead-generation business - LP Services - even though LG eventually named him president of the company.
LG sued Edward Shin, Chris Smith and others in 2009, in Riverside County Court.
Once ensconced as LG's head, Shin hired Chris as an independent consultant and LeadPoint fired Chris the same day.
According to LG's 2009 lawsuit, Shin and Chris Smith colluded to set up the secret company and "directed valuable business to that venture and to others, diverted leads from LG's lead exchange ... defrauded LG, misappropriated LG's trade secrets, converted LG's funds and intentionally interfered with LG's business relations."
The LG complaint claims that Shin funneled $1 million of its money into his secret startup.
Chris left LG at the end of 2008 and Shin resigned in March 2009. LG sued them in April and went after Shin's and his wife's joint bank account - on the same day Chris and Shin co-founded The 800 Exchange, according to an Aug. 31, 2011 report in the OC Weekly.
In the new complaint, Chris's parents claim that that's when Shin developed his conspiracy "to wrongfully protect and advance the interests of Shin at the expense of Shin's business partner, Chris."
The parents claim Shin's first move was to steer Chris into hiring defendant Aldover to defend him in the LG complaint.
"Shin steered Chris to Aldover because he knew that Aldover would not be competent to protect Chris's business interests against Shin and that he would be easily manipulated, in part because Aldover would look to Shin rather than to Chris for payment," the complaint states. "Plaintiffs are informed and believe that Shin chose Aldover because he knew him to be an inexperienced and malleable solo practitioner working out of a storefront office in Torrance, and that Aldover lacked the experience, resources or capacity to protect Chris in major costly and complex business litigation, thereby giving Shin, whose interests were directly adverse to Chris, an advantage."
After police arrested Shin for allegedly embezzling from LG in late 2009, Chris's parents say, their son became worried that things might be "fishy."