Donell

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

JAMES H. DONELL, Receiver for  J.T. Wallenbrock & Associates and Citadel Capital Management No. 06-55544 Group, Inc., Plaintiff-Appellee,  D.C. No.

CV-04-09702-ER

v. OPINION

ROBERT KOWELL,

Defendant-Appellant.  Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Edward Rafeedie, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted December 6, 2007—Pasadena, California

Filed July 1, 2008

Before: Pasco M. Bowman,* Melvin Brunetti, and Jay S. Bybee, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Bybee

*The Honorable Pasco M. Bowman, United States Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation. COUNSEL

Richard D. Ackerman, Temecula, California, for the defendant-appellant.

Peter A. Davidson, Los Angeles, California, for the plaintiff- appellee.

OPINION

BYBEE, Circuit Judge:

Robert Kowell found an investment opportunity that sounded too good to be true. In Kowell’s case, it wasn’t. J.T. Wallenbrock & Associates (“Wallenbrock”) promised Kowell a 20 percent return on his investment…