Lahar

facts: Nicholas Thomas Del Franco agreed to purchase iFiber from Jaiswal for $22.5 million. Del Franco introduced Jaiswal to Paul Garcia, whom Del Franco represented was a money manager of Montecristo Capital Management, Inc. Jaiswal and Del Franco agreed Montecristo would fund the purchase. Garcia told Jaiswal that Del Franco would have to pay Montecristo an “[i]nterest [r]eserve” payment of 10 percent of the purchase price, $2.25 million, before Montecristo could deploy the full purchase price of

1 “SLAPP is an acronym for ‘strategic lawsuit against public

participation.’” (City of Montebello v. Vasquez (2016) 1 Cal.5th 409, 413, fn. 2.) All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure unless otherwise specified.

2 $22.5 million. A month after the parties agreed to the purchase and funding, Del Franco introduced Jaiswal to Lahar. Lahar agreed he would manage iFiber once Del Franco closed the transaction. To effectuate the purchase of iFiber, Del Franco and Jaiswal entered into a letter of intent. Lahar did not sign the letter of intent. Shortly after entering into the letter of intent, Jaiswal loaned Del Franco $1.425 million, half of the 10 percent…