Jinhong Wang, Zuoyang Wang, Jianfa Xie, Pingning Guo, Tao Zhang, Ye Tian, Lie Lin, Xia Cao, Lin Ma, Tong Wang, Pengxiang Ni, Chunyan Xu, Rui Wang, yi Liu, Yuesheng Qin, jianfeng Huang vs The Bancorp Bank

Filing Date:February 07, 2019

Case:The Bancorp Bank v. Chinese investors

Jurisdiction:Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

Status:Pending

Civil / Criminal:Civil

Due process violations

Fraud

Malpractice

Misrepresentation

Securities Violations

Foreign investors who claim they were duped into putting $12 million into a Fort Lauderdale hotel project in exchange for green cards again are suing to reclaim their funds, this time in state court with a Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney shareholder as a defendant.

The EB-5 investment visa fraud case centers on the Las Olas Ocean Resort, which was planned as a 139-unit resort steps from the ocean at 550 Seabreeze Blvd. It wasn’t finished on time and has been mired in litigation, including an alleged loan default, bankruptcy proceedings and the visa fraud accusation.

The property is poised for a fresh start with Magna Hospitality Group. The Warwick, Rhode Island-based owner and operator of 20 hotels bought the property for $39.1 million in a stalking-horse bankruptcy auction last August.

The project developer is 550 Seabreeze Development LLC, which isn’t named in the lawsuit.

Defendants in the state case include Jack Kessler, Eugene Kessler and Ken Bernstein, alleged principals in the development company. They allegedly created companies that aided the EB-5 scheme.

Defendant Las Olas Mezzanine Borrower LLC held the investors’ funds.

The original lawsuit filed by 21 investors in the federal bankruptcy case was dismissed Dec. 27 by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Raymond Ray in Fort Lauderdale.

Three other investors joined the state case, which mirrors the dismissed federal one, as plaintiffs, bringing the amount they collectively invested from $10.5 million to $12 million.