Bhupinder Dhillon v. Bbc Holdings Inc

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff Bhupinder Dhillon (“Plaintiff’) sued Defendants BBC Holdings, Inc., BBC Broadcasting, Inc. (together, the “BBC Companies”), and Bhag Singh Khela, an officer, director, and shareholder of the BBC Companies, alleging that Plaintiffs son, Sukhdev Dhillon, represented to Plaintiff that he would receive a 40 percent interest in each of the BBC Companies in exchange for his $400,000 investment. After a bench trial, the district court found that Plaintiff was not entitled to any relief. Plaintiff appealed. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

We review the district court’s findings of fact for clear error, United States v. Bourseau, 531 F.3d 1159, 1164 (9th Cir.2008), and its denial of equitable relief for abuse of discretion, Appling v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 340 F.3d 769, 780 (9th Cir.2003).

The district court found that Plaintiff provided funds to help with his son’s radio business without any specific intention that the funds be used to purchase equity in the BBC Companies. The court further found that the funds were used as an advance lease payment, rather than as an equity investment. Because the district court drew…