Judge Voids Part of Suit Against Charter

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge earlier this month dismissed a big part of a lawsuit against Charter Pacific Bank of Agoura Hills that alleged the bank had violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act.

The lawsuit was filed by Simple Research Inc., a defunct Los Angeles firm that provided credit-card checks and other technical services for pay-per-call, or audio-text businesses, that had accounts with Charter.

Simple Research blamed the bank for its demise, alleging that Charter Pacific skimmed funds from certain bank accounts involved in the audio-text business in which customers call 800-line phone numbers and then pay for the calls with their credit cards.

But the court ruled that Simple Research could not bring a claim under RICO, which requires a criminal enterprise and could have tripled the damages of $15 million that Simple Research sought.

Simple Research’s lawsuit also alleged fraud, negligence and breach of contract. Those allegations are pending in court, but Charter Pacific has denied the merits of those accusations as well.

Charter Pacific had first sued Simple Research in November to recover more than $500,000 in overdraft losses that the bank alleged resulted from excessive charge-backs on credit card accounts. That case has yet to come to trial.