NY to FL Forum Shopping Case | Judge Taddeo Rules Discovery to Proceed in Structured Settlement Cash Now Fraud Case

by Structured Settlement Watchdog

Judge Anne Marie Taddeo ruled July 27, 2021  that the Defendants' motion for summary judgment in a New York to Florida structured settlement factoring forum shopping case is premature; until discovery is complete the Court cannot properly access (sic) the Plaintiff's or Defendant's role in the alleged " fraud". Accordingly, the Court denies the Defendant's motion without prejudice to renew at the completion of discovery.

Phillip Lape, Plaintiff v Structured Asset Funding LLC d/b/a 123 LumpSum, Insurance Company of North America, Life Insurance Company of North America  New York State Supreme court, County of Monroe Index E2020003377

The Plaintiff, Philip Lape received a structured settlement as part of the consideration of the settlement of his tort action. In 2014, 2015 and 2016 several structured settlement transfers were consummated in Florida and approved by a Florida Circuit Court judge.  The Plaintiff brought suit in Monroe County where he lived at the time of the Florida transactions, alleging Fraud and violation of New York General Business Law.  The Plaintiff's complaint mapped out an alleged fraudulent structured settlement forum shopping scheme and included embedded copies of emails from  Defendant's former representative Mel Luback that speak for themselves. Refer to my June 8, 2020 post  Fraudulent Scheme to Evade NY Structured Settlement Protection Statute by 123 LumpSum Says New Complaint

Defendant Structured Asset Funding moved to dismiss claiming there is no issue of material fact or law with respect to the claims made by Plaintiff and contends that documentary evidence supports the claim that Plaintiff seeks to reverse threes separate Florida Orders  (structured settlement transfer orders). Defendant argued that Plaintiff's claims 1) violate the Full Faith & Credit clause; 2) violate the doctrines of Res Judicata and Waiver; 3) are barred by the doctrine of Judicial Estoppel; 4) were waived by his ratification of the rulings of the Florida Court; and 5) are barred by the principal of unclean hands

IRC 5891 and state Structured Settlement Protection Acts were originally designed to preserve the protections for people receiving structured settlements qualified under IRC 104(a)(2) and IRC 130.

In my opinion Courts cannot turn a blind eye to predatory conduct where there is an inducement to commit fraud.