Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409150071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Now, they can only hope it results in a small financial gain.
Lucion, a former Roanoke real-estate agent convicted of fraud in 1990, has agreed that he owes $300,000 to 33 people who invested in Tryon Mall in Charlotte, N.C.
The only problem is that Lucion - who just got out of prison in February and still is mired in bankruptcy court - probably is broke, said Charles Williams Jr., the attorney who represented the investors.
"If he ever gets the money or we find out that he has it, then we have a judgement for $300,000," Williams said.
The judgment, approved by U.S. District Judge James Turk on Wednesday, ends one of the numerous lawsuits filed by more than 80 investors accusing Lucion and Craft of plotting to bilk them.
Williams said he wishes the investors he represented got the cash they deserved, but the judgment is the best they could expect.
"As a practical matter this is about the only resolution we're going to get," the lawyer said.
The civil suits were filed in the late 1980s, but were put on hold when Lucion filed for bankruptcy in 1988. They were delayed even longer after Craft, a former Vinton accountant, and Lucion were indicted on federal fraud charges.
The two were convicted in 1990 of running a fraud scheme from 1982 to 1986 in which they set up investment partnerships to buy six shopping centers in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee.
They cheated investors by arranging to buy each center at one price and telling the partners the prices were actually much higher. Lucion and Craft then split the difference.
Lucion was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $1 million, money that is supposed to go to the victims, and Craft was sentenced to eight years in prison. Craft was released on parole in December.
Williams said Lucion, who is not living in the area, returned to Roanoke in May for a hearing on the Tryon Mall lawsuit. Lucion was not in court when Turk accepted the settlement Wednesday.
The investors included some of Roanoke's biggest entrepreneurs seeking tax shelters, as well as elderly couples looking for retirement security.
The civil judgment against Lucion - the first as far as Williams knows - is just a small portion of the more than $2 million the investors estimate they lost.
Williams said the Tryon Mall investors now must wait until Lucion's bankruptcy case is finished to see if he still has any assets.
"We'll just stand in line and see what we get," he said.
If any assets are found, the $300,000 will be divided among the investors by Circuit Judge Kenneth Trabue, according to the order.
Craft was listed as a co-defendant with Lucion when the suit was filed in Roanoke County in 1987, but his name was taken off the case earlier this year when it was transferred out of bankruptcy court, Williams said.
Craft also has filed for bankruptcy and Williams said he thinks the investors had no chance of recovering money from him.
by CNB