Welborne
Welborne v. Ryman-Carroll Found.
Opinion
lead Opinion
Goodman, J.
*721 Martha L. Welborne (Welborne) sued Ryman-Carroll Foundation (Ryman) and others in an attempt to recover $490,108.16 which she claimed had been taken by her then-investment advisor, defendant Mark Foster (Foster), from Welborne's investment account at her investment advisory firm which Foster then used to repay a loan which an entity he controlled had obtained several years earlier from Ryman.
*722 We hold that Welborne presented a sufficient prima facie case to require that Ryman's motion for summary judgment be denied. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment. 1
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Between 1980 and 2014, Foster was a registered investment advisor; during most of the time at issue, he worked at Stern Fisher Edwards, Inc. (SFEI). 2 Welborne and Ryman were among his clients. Until August 2012, Foster was a member of the board of directors of Ryman. He was also the sole member and director of the Moira Byrne Foster Foundation (MBFF). In 2004, Ryman obtained a bank line of credit with a minimum draw amount of $500,000. In turn, Ryman loaned $410,000 of that amount to MBFF. Foster executed the note memorializing this loan on behalf of MBFF. Although the note called for…