Alan B. Levan, who lost a civil fraud lawsuit to the Securities and Exchange Commission in December, recently asked a federal judge to overrule the jury verdict or hold a new trial.
After a six-week trial, a jury found both Levan, chairman and CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based BBX Capital Corp., and BBX liable for securities and accounting fraud. BBX attorney Eugene Stearns, of Stearns Weaver Miller, filed a motion on Monday with U.S District Judge Darrin Gayles, according to a published report.
The jury found that Levan intentionally made false or misleading statements about the loan portfolio of former BBX subsidiary BankAtlantic during an investor conference call in 2007. Additionally, it found that BBX and Levan approved false accounting on its 2007 annual report.
“We do not know if the court will take up this motion and our alternative motion for new trial before hearing from the SEC on a proposed penalty,” Stearns told the South Florida Business Journal. [South Florida Business Journal] — Kristina Puga