DALLAS (CN) - John R. Apple, Chris Stahl and others, who have been repeatedly sued for business scams, did it again, taking more than $300,000 in a Western Pipeline Corp. scam, two investors claim in Dallas County Court. They claim Apple, of Frisco, Texas, moves his co-defendants "in and out of ... various corporations like musical chairs" to bilk suckers in putative oil and gas drilling ventures.
Plaintiffs claim Illinois Energy Partner successfully sued Apple and a cohort in 2005 and "the defendants, caught red-handed, settled the case in September 2005 for more than 100 cents on the dollar."
They claim that in 2006, "John A. Apple, Ashley Apple, Western Pipeline Corp., Cliff Stahl, J.T. Nealy [all of whom are defendants in this case] and other affiliated companies and cronies were sued by more than 30 plaintiffs from 14 different U.S. states and one Canadian province" in Dallas County Court, and settled the claim "on a confidential basis. This case made allegations that are, in all material respects, similar to the allegations in the IEP case and in this case." And they claim, "The Defendants concealed all of this litigation, which was mostly conducted prior to their investments, from the Plaintiffs" in this case.
They cite another lawsuit against Western Pipeline Corp., from November 2005.
And they claim the SEC sued Stahl in 1997 in Massachusetts and permanently restrained him from violating securities laws again.
See complaint in Dallas County Court.
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