SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Eagan Avenatti, LLP announced today that the Trustee of the Meridian Investors Trust under the confirmed plan of liquidation in the Meridian Mortgage bankruptcy filed a lawsuit earlier today in King County Superior Court on behalf of investors seeking to recover in excess of $150 million as a result of what is believed to be the Northwest's largest Ponzi scheme in history. The suit names auditors Moss Adams, LLP and Frederick Darren Berg as defendants and alleges that Berg, with the knowledge and assistance of Moss Adams, engaged in a massive fraud designed to misappropriate millions of dollars from hundreds of investors in order to fund Berg’s own lavish lifestyle and further enrich Moss Adams.
The funds include the Meridian Mortgage Investors Funds and Meridian Real Estate Opportunity Funds. According to the complaint, for approximately a decade, Berg raised more than $360 million from more than 1,000 investors as part of his Ponzi scheme and used auditing firm Moss Adams to vouch for the accuracy and health of the funds when Moss Adams knew or should have known Berg was engaged in fraud. The suit further alleges that Moss Adams failed to conduct even the most basic tasks in connection with their audits of the funds and purposely turned a “blind eye” to Berg’s fraud in order to earn more fees for the firm. Berg is currently being held without bail at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac, Washington while he awaits trial next year on related criminal charges.
“My sole objective from the beginning has been to maximize recovery of assets for the investors,” said Mark Calvert, the Trustee of the Meridian Investors Trust and Founder of Cascade Capital Group. ”We have worked diligently to accomplish this goal and this lawsuit is a significant step.”
“Berg, with the assistance of Moss Adams, orchestrated one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history,” said attorney Michael Avenatti of Eagan Avenatti, LLP, the law firm representing Calvert in his role as Trustee for the Meridian Investors Trust. “We look forward to trying this case and presenting the mountain of evidence of Defendants’ conduct to a jury.”
About Cascade Capital Group
Cascade Capital Group provides a select set of services to its clients, with a primary focus on financial and operational management and investment banking, and as advisors to businesses, investors, and lenders. The firm is also experienced in forensic accounting. More information about Cascade Capital Group and its services can be found at www.cascadecapitalgroup.com.
About Eagan Avenatti, LLP
Michael J. Avenatti, Esq. is a founding partner of Eagan Avenatti, LLP, a firm of trial attorneys that specializes in litigating a variety of high profile legal disputes in courts throughout the United States. Avenatti and EA are consistently ranked among the best attorneys in America. The firm is based in Los Angeles, California.