Hackard Law Defends Over Half of Investor Defendants in Clawback Lawsuits Filed in Accused Ponzi Schemer Vincent Singh's $20 Million Bankruptcy

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Vincent Thakur Singh filed bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Sacramento on August 19, 2010. At the time of Singh's filing he listed unsecured obligations to creditors in excess of $22,000,000. By the end of August 2012 – the two-year anniversary of Singh's bankruptcy filing – over 130 clawback lawsuits had been filed against Singh's investors.

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The Trustee of the Singh bankruptcy, Michael F. Burkart, has leveled these claims at Singh's victims. Trustees in Ponzi scheme bankruptcies often explain that the rationale for filing clawbacks is to bring back money into the bankruptcy estate and ultimately distribute the money to the estate's creditors. Burkart's lawsuits were filed by Gregory J. Hughes, the trustee's attorney.

The Singh investors were classic targets of "affinity fraud", for the most part sharing the ethnic Indian Fijian background of the perpetrator, Vincent Singh. The lawsuits filed by Burkart seek to recover at least $9,684,999.00 plus triple the amount of any usurious interest (over 10%) paid to the investor. The average of all claims filed is about $72,000.00.

Over half of all 130 investor defendants (67) sued by the bankruptcy trustee have hired attorneys Michael Hackard, Quinn Chevalier and Nou Lee of Hackard Law to defend them. Hackard commented that from preliminary investigations of his clients' circumstances, they didn't actually make any money from their investments and many appear to have lost their life savings. Hackard's clients said they believed Singh as their investment advisor and thought they were buying legitimate short-term promissory notes. Had they known of Singh's scam, they would never have risked having their lives upended and their money stolen.

Hackard stated that his clients are victims of a massive investment fraud now facing lawsuits they don't understand. He added: "The defense for our clients is only just beginning. We know that a good part of discovery will focus on the good-faith beliefs of each investor and whether the investor was a 'net winner' or a 'net loser.' In the end, after individual and common evidence is gathered, legal issues are addressed, trial preparation is done and evidence presented, there will be a number of disputed facts that can only be resolved by a jury."

About Hackard Law, a Professional Law Corporation

Hackard Law, a Professional Law Corporation, focuses on transactional and litigation matters. Michael A. Hackard is the principal attorney of Hackard Law - a Northern California law firm which represents families with extensive business interests as well as clients impoverished by the wrongdoing of others. For more information about Hackard Law's work in representing adversary defendants in bankruptcy matters, please visit www.ponziclawbacks.com. For information about Michael A. Hackard please visit http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/95655-ca-michael-hackard-226264.html .

SOURCE Hackard Law