FT. LAUDERDALE (CN) - A man claims he was taken for $400,000 by two men who claimed they could get him an Internet gambling license from the nation of Dominica.
Joseph Elkind and Peter Langone sued 2 Waves LLC, Randolph Schneider and Steven Aaron White, in Broward County Court.
Elkind says that Schneider and White, approached him about buying an Internet casino license from the nation of Dominica. He claims: "White and Schneider represented to Elkind that they were representatives of the Country of Dominica and had the authority and ability to obtain the Internet casino license for Elkind."
So, Elkind says, he wired the men $400,000: $50,000 for the casino license and the rest for "other joint business ventures with White and Schneider."
He says the two men put his money into their alter ego company, 2 Waves.
"Thereafter, White and Schneider began to utilize Elkind's money for their own personal use, purchasing a Mercedes automobile and other personal items. The trust that Elkind placed in White and Schneider was exhibited by Elkind making an additional $30,000 personal loan to White," the complaint states.
Too late, Elkind says, when he "discovered that in fact there was no casino license from the Country of Dominica" and that White and Schneider were spending the money on themselves, he "approached and confronted them through a lawyer."
Elkind claims: "White readily admitted his wrongdoing along with his partner Schneider; however, Schneider, contrary to White's statements, continually denied any involvement with the unauthorized use of Elkind's money.
"Although Schneider continually denied any involvement in the wrongful use of Elkind's money, he claimed, as a showing of good faith, to give Elkind fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) towards the money that Elkind had lost. In addition, he told Elkind that he had a business opportunity whereby he could make the money back that had been wrongfully used by White."
The "business opportunity" was "in a public company called Rightsmile, LLC," according to the complaint, and it was offered to him and co-plaintiff Langone.
"Elkind and Langone were suppose[d] to receive 756,500 shares of Rightsmile for the transfer of their office/studio lease agreement and digital/computer and recording equipment, worth between $450,000.00 and $1,000,000.00, and their ownership in their company Global Branding LLC," the complaint states.
"Unbeknownst to Elkind and Langone, the value of the Rightsmile shares, as represented to them by [nonparty Matthew] Dwyer and Schneider, was worth far less than the lease/agreement and equipment and their company Global.
"Dwyer made representations that the news of the transfer of the office/studio lease agreement and equipment deal would cause the stock price of Rightsmile to increase significantly and allow Elkind to recoup his losses from White's fraudulent deal, through the sale of his free trading stock in Rightsmile."
Elkind claims Dwyer and Schneider took him to a lawyer who "prepared the complex stock exchange agreements," and "represented to them that these agreements were beneficial for all involved."
He claims: "The business opportunity that Schneider and Dwyer presented to Elkind and Langone has all the trappings of a typical public shell game, to grab a valuable asset of Elkind and Langone and give them worthless stock in return. Elkind and Langone have since discovered other victims of the Schneider, White and Dwyer valueless stock in public shells traded for valuable assets fraud that have lost considerable sums of money to Schneider, White and Dwyer."
Elkind and Langone say they were defrauded of more than $400,000. They want it back.
They are represented by David Goldstein of Coral Gables.
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