SAN FRANCISCO – A Sonoma County man alleges he was misled into investing in viatical settlements.
Christopher Amberger filed a complaint on Oct. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Legacy Capital Corp., Legacy Benefits Corp. and Mills Potoczak & Co. citing violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Securities Act of 1933, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that in November 1998 he invested $20,000 with Legacy Capital Corp. to be split between two viatical settlement contracts with the promise of a 12 percent return on his investment within 24 months. He alleges he has also spent more than $2,000 for additional premiums and services charges.
The suit states that after more money was demanded of him, the plaintiff sought an attorney in September 2015, and the attorney found irregularities that led plaintiff to believe he was a victim of fraud.
The plaintiff holds Legacy Capital Corp., Legacy Benefits Corp. and Mills Potoczak & Co. responsible because the defendants allegedly failed to acquire registration to sell insurance products in California, failed to provide adequate information to plaintiff regarding the investments and failed to return investments from unregistered viatical investments.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment in his favor, damages, attorney's fees, restore invested funds, ancillary relief, declaration of the rights of the parties, costs of suit, interest and further relief as the court deems proper. He is represented by Douglas A. Applegate of Seiler Epstein Ziegler & Applegate in San Francisco.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 3:16-cv-05622-JSC