Brady

California businessmen Brady and Card-well invested in Mexican coastal land and the construction of a hotel with the help of Brown, an American citizen and Mexican resident licensed to practice law in Mexico. Because Mexican law does not allow direct foreign ownership of coastal property, Brown arranged for Mexican citizens to buy the property with funds contributed by Brady and Cardwell. Through a complex series of agreements and transactions directed by Brown, Brown and his family eventually acquired controlling interests in the land, the hotel, and the hotel corporation. When Brown’s family took control over the hotel, Brady and Cardwell sued Brown and his family in federal district court in California. Brown’s family counterclaimed.

After a bench trial of Brady and Card-well’s claims, the district court found Brown hable for fraud and ordered him to execute a power of attorney to an agent to transfer the property into a trust approved by the Mexican government, for the benefit of Brady and Cardwell. The other defendants were also ordered to transfer their interests into the trust, to avoid unjust enrichment. The court granted summary judgment for Brady and Cardwell on the…