In a New York County Supreme Court breach of contract case, the three petitioners have asked for a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit concerning loans they made to a New Jersey pharmaceutical company interested in developing medical marijuana products, according to the December 2020 complaint. In their Jan. 7 filing, the petitioners ask the court for injunctive relief or, in the alternative, attachment in aid of arbitration against Secaucus Investors, LLC.
The petitioners, Danielle Epstein, Jason Goodman, and Ward Guilday, reportedly contributed $1.25 million of a $10 million loan to the medical marijuana company through Secaucus when the company needed further capital injection after years of failure to earn a profit. The petitioners’ loans that reportedly “sav[ed] the business,” were executed pursuant to a participation agreement.
The petitioners contended that Secaucus received $2.6 million in repayment from the medical marijuana company, but did not use it to repay the petitioners in violation of the parties’ agreement. Instead of reimbursing them the pro-rata share due, Secaucus reportedly arranged for the loan repayments to be sent to Secaucus and its majority members.
In addition, the motion explains that the petitioners recently learned of two other lawsuits that Secaucus is involved in, one with the medical marijuana company, and another with a non-party who also funded the loan. According to the filing, the petitioners find “Secaucus’ position in those litigations [] astonishingly false” because the defendant untruthfully claims that it is unaware of petitioners’ investments despite the alleged fact that it was “crystal clear that Secaucus was both aware of, and approved of, Petitioners’ purchase of their participation interests.”
In turn, the petitioners accuse Secaucus of trying to steal their funds. They argue that injunctive relief is appropriate because they are likely to prevail on their claims, they will suffer irreparable harm, and the balance of the equities tips in their favor.
The petitioners are represented by Rasco Klock Perez & Nieto, LLC.
