Trump Tries to Dodge Fraudulent Business Deal Class Action Lawsuit

Victims of an alleged fraudulent business deal orchestrated by President Trump and his children are facing a motion to dismiss their class action lawsuit.

Lead plaintiffs claimed in their class action lawsuit that they were defrauded by Trump Corp., a company run by the president’s children, Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric. Trump.

His children say in a new motion opposing the class action lawsuit that the plaintiffs can’t show that they were injured.

President Trump also contends that he has had nothing to do with the alleged fraudulent business deal run by an affiliate, American Communications Network (ACN) – “a business Mr. Trump does not own, has never owned, and over whose operations he has never exercised control,” according to the motion.

According to the class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs, who have been granted anonymity, and other consumers were duped into paying nearly $500 to get started in phone and internet services with a company allegedly endorsed by Trump.

The plaintiffs accuse the president and his children of knowing that the deal was bad for consumers, but selling it anyway.

Claiming that Trump simply made “generic positive statements about the company (e.g., ‘ACN has a reputation for success, success synonymous with the Trump name,’ ‘Believe me, it’s ultimately a dream come true,’ ‘I see incredible potential in the things they’re doing now, and they’re planning in the future,” the motion to dismiss the class action contends that consumers did not lose money at the hands of Trump or his family.

Instead, argues the motion, blame must be placed at the feet of ACN. “It is undisputed that ACN – and ACN alone – through a network of ACN representatives, solicited and collected fees from Plaintiffs, for the benefit of ACN.”

The class action lawsuit alleges, however, that Trump and his company, Trump Corp., received an undisclosed endorsement fee from ACN to solicit the celebrity endorsements.

The president also contends that the class action lawsuit is part of an elaborate scheme to mire him and Trump Corp. in legal action.

“Plaintiffs’ lawsuit is funded by the Tesseract Research Center, whose president describes herself as ‘[a] long-time progressive strategist’ and who also runs the Tesseract Group, ‘a boutique consulting firm’ specialized in ‘developing, promoting and implementing progressive public policy,’” points out the motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit.

In response to the motion to dismiss, representatives for the plaintiffs told Law360 that they are likely to amend the complaint, but plan to proceed with the class action lawsuit.

The plaintiffs are represented byRoberta A. Kaplan, Emily C. Cole, John C. Quinn, Matthew J. Craig, Alexander J. Rodney and Joshua Matz of Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, and Andrew G. Celli of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP.

The Trump Fraudulent Business Deal Class Action Lawsuit is Jane Doe, et al. v. The Trump Corporation, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-09936, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE: On July 24, 2019, a federal judge has decided that President Donald Trump and three of his children should face some charges by a putative Class who say that they were bilked out of money when they invested in what turned out to be a fraudulent marketing scheme.