by Joe Bird
Like many of you, at Mahany & Ertl we routinely encounter bullies and trash talkers. So often in the world of fraud, those who protest and threaten the loudest are the biggest frauds and bullies. As in the Wizard of Oz, they just need a determined canine of modest proportions to pull aside the curtain and reveal what they truly are.
Case in point. Many readers know of our saga with Allied Mortgage and our battles for many aggrieved employees, primarily branch managers and loan officers. We have done our best and shed our blood for our clients as we struggle down the long hallway towards the curtain, anxious to pull it aside. Recently, one of our comrades succeeded in revealing just a glimpse of what is on the other side of the curtain.
Jonny Fowler was an executive VP for Allied for years. He suffered. He finally freed himself, but found himself on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Allied and Jim Hodge. It was full of loud accusations and scandalous claims. A courageous attorney by the name of Paul Matula, in Texas, defended him. This past November, after a long battle, Paul pulled aside the curtain just a bit. When the judge refused to seal the case from public scrutiny and refused to empty the courtroom to give Allied quarter to continue its baseless attacks, Allied simply dismissed the case, revealing the small creature behind the curtain for an instant.
Millions of dollars were spent on attorneys instead of paying the legitimate claims of employees for wages and costs and claims for mortgage fraud. In the end, it was just for the sport of the man behind the curtain.
At Mahany & Ertl we are not afraid to pull on the curtain of fraud and reveal what is behind it. We fight for the chance to do so. We also applaud the efforts of Paul Matula for his client and for revealing what is behind Allied’s curtain.
–
The fraud lawyers at Mahany & Ertl handle a wide variety of fraud cases. From complex federal false claims acts to accounting malpractice, Ponzi schemes and investment fraud, our asset recovery team is ready to fight for you. For more information on what we do, contact attorney Brian Mahany at or by email at . All inquiries are confidential. The author Joe Bird can also be contacted at
Mahany & Ertl – America’s Fraud Lawyers. Offices in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Portland, Maine & Minneapolis, Minnesota. Services available in many jurisdictions.