By: L.N. Reklai
October 4, 2016 (Koror) An amended complaint is filed against David Shadel and Kevin Kirk Law Firm on October 4, 2016, alleging fraud and unjust enrichment stemming from debt collection actions taken by David Shadel as legal counsel and debt collector for many his business clients.
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The suit which is brought by Emory Mesubed, Rikel Ngiraiwet and Rosemary Terry alleges that the defendants knowingly misrepresented facts to debtors, abused the court system to aid in fraudulently obtaining judgments against debtors and charging unauthorized attorneys fees.
Each of the plaintiff alleges that David Shadel on behalf of creditors, was using the court system to obtain judgments, sometimes multiple times for the same debt in order to increase his attorney’s fee or to add his attorney’s fee to principal debt without informing the debtor, the court or the creditor, in order to get more money from the debtors who did not know much about legal system or their rights under the law.
According to the charges, Mr. Shadel obtained a default judgment on a debtor, then sit on the judgment allowing it to accumulate interest, and then file for stipulated judgment, adding interest and attorney’s fees to the principal without informing the court and representing the amount to the debtor as the true amount of principal.
Other allegation states that Shadel had charged two co-debtors of one loan, each one separately and was collecting full amount from two people for the same loan.
It is also alleged that Shadel instructed his creditor clients not to communicate with the debtor and the debtor with the creditor, in order to continue his scheme to defraud the debtors. A debtor was having her pension deducted to pay her loan, and the money was going to Mr. Shadel’s personal account to this day, according to the allegations. Plaintiffs also allege that Shadel was charging over 9% in interest which was over the legal limit set by law.
The plaintiffs believe that many Palauans were affected by this without knowing about it.
The plaintiffs charge the defendants with four counts, Common Law Fraud, Action in Assumit for Money Had and Received Collecting Interest over the Statutory Limit of 9%, Collecting Attorneys Fees without Court Approval, and Unjust Enrichment.
Finally, the plaintiffs ask the court to declare violated the law and defrauded the plaintiffs, pay monetary damages and restitution, pay punitive damages for no less $200,000, and award plaintiffs costs and attorneys fees.
Similar charges were filed against David Shadel who has been barred from practicing law in Palau and fled the island without answering to the charges filed. [/restrict]