Criminally convicted venture capitalist Michael Rothenberg and his associated companies are facing a lawsuit filed by a group of investors.
The plaintiffs, which include Beluga Capital, LLC, Craig Hordlow, Jeremy Gardner, Catherine Yip, Jerry Wu, Judy Wu, Neil Kay, Anjou Ahlborn Kay, Paul Chen and Jimmy Ku allege that Rothenberg engaged in fraudulent schemes to induce loans from them with no intention of repayment.
The lawsuit was filed Dec. 21 in San Francisco County Superior Court.
The alleged fraudulent activities date back to 2015 and were supported by other defendants who are accused of participating in acts of deception and misrepresentation. These actions reportedly involved the fraudulent transfer of assets and lies intended to hinder and defraud creditors.
A California federal jury recently convicted Rothenberg on 21 charges, which were leveled following investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice. The SEC investigation resulted in a fine exceeding $30 million.
The federal actions focused on fraud related to equity investments, false statements made to secure a $4 million line of credit from Silicon Valley Bank, and money laundering.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for their losses through this lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are represented in the action by attorney Dana Delman, of Delman Vukmanovic LLP, of Irvine.