A federal judge has set a Nov. 30 trial date for several of the numerous lawsuits filed in connection with the ClassicStar case.
According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood set the date to hear the suits that include the case from a bankruptcy trustee.
Since 2006. lawsuits involving ClassicStar and its related principals and entities have been filed in Kentucky, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Utah, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Texas, alleging fraud in connection with a Thoroughbred lease operation. Among the more than 100 defendants are David and Spencer Plummer, who operated ClassicStar; Geostar, ClassicStar’s parent company; and the operators of Geostar.
Four defendants—the Plummers, Terry Green, and John Parrot—have pleaded guilty in federal court in Oregon to $200 million in tax fraud, according to the Herald-Leader. The Plummers and Green pleaded guilty last October to conspiring in a mutli-layered fraud and are cooperating with a federal investigation. They have not been sentenced.
Under the ClassicStar banner, investors were encouraged to invest in Thoroughbred breeding partnerships with the promise of large returns. According to court documents filed in connection with the lawsuits, which are seeking more than $500 million, the leases were financed through a ClassicStar entity, and the money was recycled back and forth to create fraudulent tax savings and to inflate the investments on tax returns, the newspaper reported.
ClassicStar filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007.