Judge Orders Finance Guru to Stop Lies

Seven weeks after a jury hit finance guru Charles J. Givens Jr. with a $14.1-million judgment in a class-action suit brought by disgruntled investors, a San Diego Superior Court judge enjoined Givens from further misrepresenting the success of his moneymaking strategies.

Givens is the Florida-based author of best-selling investment books such as “Wealth Without Risk” and until recently was head of a national investment club that charged members between $400 and $900 to learn the secrets of his wealth.

But in May, a San Diego Superior Court jury agreed with plaintiffs in the class action who argued that Givens’ strategies are no more than a collection of at times contradictory platitudes and that Givens lied when he said he had earned and lost three million-dollar fortunes before he wrote his books.

“Givens lied about his past,” said John W. Jeffrey, attorney for the plaintiffs. “The way he made his money was not by using the strategies he sold but rather by selling the strategies themselves.”

On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge J. Richard Haden ruled that Givens would be enjoined from further lying about the purposes of his company, which are “the making of substantial profits from the sale of memberships, products and services, and the referral of persons to other profit-making businesses owned in whole or in part by the defendants.”

Givens, who lives in Altamonte Springs, Fla., was not available for comment. But his San Diego attorney, Michael McCloskey, said the financial advisor denies any wrongdoing.

“We are seriously disappointed and will take appropriate measures to try to seek relief” by appealing the judgment, McCloskey said.

According to the verdict of last month, Givens is liable for fraud and misrepresentation and must pay $14.1 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the plaintiffs, a class covering about 29,000 Californians who joined Givens’ organization between 1986 and 1993.

The verdict is against Givens and his company, the Charles J. Givens Organization, which has since been renamed International Administrative Services.

Jeffrey said Givens filed for bankruptcy protection in Florida last year. McCloskey said Givens has since retired from active management of the firm.

Givens gained fame in the 1980s with his books, infomercials and appearances on national talk shows touting his get-rich schemes and his lavish lifestyle of sumptuous homes and Rolls-Royce automobiles.

Among other things, Givens advised members to dump certain auto and home insurance policies in favor of policies purchased from his companies and hawked real estate investments through his own firm.

Members paid up to several thousand dollars for books, videotapes and other materials and to take part in Givens’ seminars, workshops and other programs.

Givens also has a presence on the Internet, through which his videotapes, financial books and software are available. But there are also warnings on the Net not to trust his advice.

This is not the first time Givens has run into trouble.

In November, the Florida attorney general’s office persuaded Givens to agree to refund as much as $175,000 to 135 dissatisfied customers and to modify his business practices to settle charges that he misrepresented the effectiveness of his moneymaking strategies.

A previous case resulted in a settlement agreement to refund $145,000 to 121 other Florida customers and to pay $75,000 to cover the state’s investigative costs.

Givens has also agreed to refund hundreds of thousands of dollars to consumers in Wisconsin and Iowa to settle lawsuits in those states.