Claims Against Imperial Credit Settled
Claims stemming from a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit filed against Torrance-based Imperial Credit Industries were settled for nearly $1 million by an arbitration panel last month, attorneys said Wednesday.
The suit, filed nearly a year ago by Judy L. Resnick, one of Southern California’s best-known female financiers, alleged that Imperial and others in 1997 fraudulently seized control of Dabney Resnick Imperial, a Beverly Hills investment firm Resnick co-founded in 1989 as Dabney Resnick.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleged that Imperial Chairman H. Wayne Snavely, along with Dabney executives Randy Wooster and Jason Reese, “knowingly conspired together to wrongfully oust Resnick from participation in the firm after exploiting her business contacts.”
On Nov. 26, a National Assn. of Securities Dealers arbitration panel awarded Resnick $901,567 in actual damages but did not order the individual defendants in the suit to pay damages. Imperial said it paid the award last week.
“The size of the arbitration award was anticipated and had been previously reserved for by ICG,” Snavely said Wednesday in a statement. “We are particularly pleased that the arbitration panel found no basis for any of Ms. Resnick’s claims for punitive damages.”
Snavely said the award will be partially paid by insurance proceeds.
“I’m pleased with it, because you know, I won and now it’s behind me,” Resnick said in an interview Wednesday.
Dabney Resnick Imperial operates under the name Imperial Capital, a subsidiary of Imperial Credit, a publicly traded diversified financial services company.
Resnick, 58, got her start as a junk bond trader with Michael Milken at Drexel Burnham Lambert in Beverly Hills during the 1980s. She left to co-found Dabney Resnick, which she and Neil Dabney, another former Drexel trader, grew into a firm with $25 million in annual revenue, 125 employees and an asset management division.
Dabney left in 1996, and later that year Imperial Credit agreed to loan the firm $8.45 million in return for a 1% stake and warrants to buy an additional 49%. At the time, Resnick controlled 50% of the firm and had no intention of selling her stake, the suit claimed. In May 1997, Resnick agreed to give up management responsibilities and her remaining stake but remain chairwoman for a $400,000 annual salary. The suit alleged Imperial tried to force her out of her chairwoman title.
Resnick now runs Resnick Group in Beverly Hills, an investment firm.
