Totally Tortelicious Archive

Repossessed Car Class Action Lawsuit Seeks $5M for Gas

February 27th, 2012. By AbiK

A woman in Michigan has filed a class action lawsuit over $29 of unreturned gas in her repossessed car. The lawsuit is seeking $5 million. Is she out of her ever-lovin’ mind? Is this just another frivolous class action lawsuit? Is her lawyer a complete opportunist? You be the judge.

The back story on this one is that Victoria Jean Church-Dellinger of White Lake, MI was apparently behind on payments for her leased 2008 Pontiac G6. So she defaulted and the lender, Ally Financial Inc., which The Detroit News reports is majority-owned by the US government, repossessed her car.

The car, however, still had a half-tank of gasoline in it when it was repossessed. (I’m guessing someone took photos of the fuel gauge and that there’s gas purchase receipts, odometer readings, and whatever else one would need to prove such was the case at the very moment the car was repossessed—though I can’t say gathering evidence would be the first thing I’d be thinking of when the tow truck showed up.)

Regardless, a quick trek over to fueleconomy.gov shows that the 2008 Pontiac G6 has a fuel tank capacity of 16 gallons. And according to ‘Today’s Regional Gas Prices’ over at AAA’s Fuel Cost Calculator, gas in Michigan is currently running about $3.68 per gallon—meaning that the alleged eight gallons of gas sitting in the repossessed Pontiac is worth $29.44.

Needless to say, Church-Dellinger must not be the only person in Michigan to whom this has happened in the past six years—i.e., having a car repossessed while there’s still leftover gas in the tank.

And therein lies the basis for the class action lawsuit. Or at least the ‘class’ members part of it. The lawsuit itself is apparently based on the argument that, as with all personal property within the repossessed vehicle that must be returned to its owner, so too should the gasoline—or the fair market value of it—be returned to its ‘owner’.

Here’s the quote from Church-Dellinger’s attorney, Brian Parker, that’s been making the rounds in the press to explain this notion: “It’s the same as if you left your jacket in there and they didn’t return it to you. You can’t take someone’s coat or fuzzy dice, and you have to return the gas.” Parker goes on to say, “Gasoline is considered personal property. If it’s in the ground and not extracted, it’s a mineral. If it’s extracted, it’s personal property.”

The repo’d car gas class action lawsuit seeks reimbursement for all gasoline taken as a result of car repossession and it also seeks to have Ally provide credit for gas left in repossessed cars in the future.

Tags: Ally Financial, Attorney Brian Parker, Frivolous Lawsuits, Michigan, Repo Car Gas, Repossessed Car Gas Class Action Lawsuit, Victoria Jean Church-Dellinger
Posted in Class Action, lawsuits, Totally Tortelicious | 95445 Comments »2012-02-27+21%3A42%3A11AbiK

Riddle: When is your Sugar Daddy your Daddy, too?

February 6th, 2012. By AbiK

“Sugar Daddy – noun; a well-to-do usually older man who supports or spends lavishly on a mistress, girlfriend, or boyfriend.”

As per Merriam-Webster. And as in, “She’s on the lookout for a new sugar daddy.” That’s the definition—so see if the shoe fits as you read on, then try to answer the riddle: When is your Sugar Daddy your Daddy, too?…

If you’ve been eyeballing the link-bait headlines in the news, you couldn’t have missed the one about polo club founder, John Goodman (no, not the actor), and his girlfriend—or would that be daughter?—Heather Laruso Hutchins.

Admittedly, this one’s hard to wrap your head around. But dammit, let’s try.

So John Goodman reportedly started dating Heather Hutchins in 2009 (a quote over at HuffPo refers to Hutchins as Goodman’s “longtime partner”—clearly the bar for length of relationship has been lowered—but let’s not digress). Then in October, 2011, Goodman adopted Hutchins. Yes, you know how it is when you start dating someone and fall so madly in love with them that you start talking adoption… OMG! Honey what do you think—should we do open or closed?!?

Aside from the natural questions that arise from such an arrangement (e.g., Is Goodman technically romantically involved with his child? Can he be charged with incest should he now have “sexual relations” with Hutchins? Would his biological children be aunts or uncles to any child he might have with Hutchins? If Carroll Goodman (John’s ex-wife) has a birthday party for her son or daughter—will she feel an odd obligation to invite their new sister?), one can’t help but raise a suspicious eyebrow as to the motive here. Why—WHY?—would a man of seemingly healthy mind—allegations of cocaine use aside—want to adopt his 42-year old girlfriend? And, of course, that leads us to the backstory…

In 2010, Goodman was in a car accident for which was he charged with DUI—or more specifically, DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. The manslaughter and homicide parts come from the nature of the accident—Goodman allegedly blew through a stop sign and ran into another car. Scott Patrick Wilson was in that other car and he tragically lost his life as a result. (Wilson’s parents have filed a civil suit).

Goodman goes to trial on March 6 for those criminal charges—and he stands to get up to 30 years in prison if he’s convicted. The civil trial is set for March 27.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the trial: Goodman adopted a daughter!

Yes—Five…months…before…his…trial. Raise that eyebrow and turn your glance to the money trail.

It’s a little tricky, but Goodman had apparently set up a trust for his two minor children. If the Wilson’s were to win their civil suit, they would not be able to touch the money in the trust. But Goodman could lose a substantial amount of money he has that’s not in trust—and if so, he’d be unable to touch the money that’s in trust for his kids because that money is reportedly tied up until the kids are 35 years of age.

Ahh…but if he adopts a 42-year old—since she’s over 35—and she goes on the trust as well, then she can access one-third of that money which would mean HE can access that money, too! “Genius!” he must’ve thought. (Wonder if he thought about how much he might be pissing off his real kids once they get a drift of the situation…)

And that’s what has the legal world abuzz right now—is this a surefire move to ‘beat the system’? Will it work? Will the adoption hold up in court as legit?

And does it even matter given that the court of public opinion has basically already lambasted Goodman and his apparently integrity-lacking girlfriend? If it was a ‘genious’ legal move—which has yet to be seen—it was a disastrous PR move—a young man dead as a result of alleged DUI, two young children pulled into some weird financial and familial threesome…

It’s a riddle for sure. But the answer to “When is your Sugar Daddy your Daddy, too?” is…

Clearly, when it’s John Goodman.

Tags: Adoption, Drunk Driving, DUI, DUI Lawsuit, Heather Laruso Hutchins, John Goodman, Scott Patrick Wilson
Posted in Emerging Issues, lawsuits, Totally Tortelicious | 9443No Comments »2012-02-06+17%3A38%3A23AbiK

Erectile Pump Scam Makes a Winner a Loser

November 21st, 2011. By AbiK

What would you call someone—within reason, of course—who runs a scam that allows him to buy cheap sex devices aimed at enhancing certain private parts, and then resells them to unwitting customers who’ve been diagnosed with bladder control or urinary flow issues, arthritis or diabetes—and then charges the hell out of Medicare for it?

Now, I know there are a few of you out there who are thinking—not out loud—”Ha! That’s genius!”

Most of us, however, would be thinking: low-life, good-for-nothing…LOSER.

Ironically, the idiot who masterminded this one is named Winner—Gary Winner. Can’t make this stuff up.

Winner it appears found some penis enlargers on an “adult” website and that must’ve been when his light-bulb moment occurred. No comment on just why Winner was scanning the, a-hem, self-help sections on sex toy websites—though my thoughts are rife with conjecture.

Regardless, according to a cbsnews.com report, Winner found a beauty of a device for $26 and he bought a whole bunch of them. He renamed them—after all, don’t want Medicare batting an eye with this one—”erectile pumps” and went as far as to repackage them (I have visions of him shrink-wrapping penis enlargers with a blow dryer—but perhaps I’m letting my imagination go too far here).

So Winner touted the would-be erectile pumps as being able to increase blood flow to the urinary tract and prostate with regular use. Uh-huh. I’m surprised he didn’t claim they cured Propecia E.D. as well…

But how’d he manage to bilk Medicare?

Obviously, in order to make the sales, Winner had to target Medicare beneficiaries and, lucky for him, he just happened to have access to such information via his medical device company, Planned Eldercare. Once he cajoled patients into providing their Medicare info by offering free medical equipment (swag for the ill!), he then turned around and billed Medicare $284 for each “pump”.

As Medicare coverage includes reimbursement for products treating organic impotence and erectile dysfunction (who knew?), all Winner had to do was claim the erectile pumps treated erectile dysfunction. Medicare also requires a prescription from a physician, and that may be where Winner ultimately forced a red flag or two. Read on…

$284 may not sound all too huge, but it apparently added up to some $370,305. Not too shabby. Unless you get caught. Which he did.

So Winner, who’s also answering charges of having bilked Medicare out of another $1.8 million for some “arthritic packages” (cbsnews.com) he claims Medicare beneficiaries and their doctors had ordered, is now up a creek without a paddle—or a pump of any sort.

Winner’s agreed to give up $2.2 million and he’s facing up to 33 years in prison along with $760,000 in fines. His sentencing will be on February 10, 2012.

Tags: Erectile Pump Scam, Gary Winner, Medicare, Penis Enlargement, Penis Pump Fraud. NSL
Posted in Consumer Fraud, Emerging Issues, lawsuits, Totally Tortelicious | 90952 Comments »2011-11-22+00%3A05%3A59AbiK

Update: Facebook Romance Lawsuit dismissed…more to come…

August 26th, 2011. By AbiK

For anyone who was wondering what ever happened with that Cheryl Gray and Wylie Iwan Facebook romance lawsuit–the one where they met playing Mafia Wars and after a few months he facedumped her and she sued–this was the update as reported by wxyz.com…

Tags: Cheryl Gray, Facebook Lawsuit, Facebook romance, Facedumped, Wylie Iwan
Posted in lawsuits, Totally Tortelicious | 8651No Comments »2011-08-26+16%3A45%3A18AbiK

6 Worst Getaway Plans of the Week

May 2nd, 2011. By LucyC

Shoulda Gone with the Skinny Jeans…There’s a reason burglars wear tight-fitting clothing. A would-be convenience store robber in Florida was recently brought down by his own trousers. Talk about wardrobe malfunction.

Apparently he had just shoplifted two cases of beer from a convenience store in Lake Wales, FL, and was running across the parking lot when he tripped and fell-doing a face plant and losing his pants at the same time. Well, we all know how difficult it can be to find your feet in that type of a situation. But find his feet he did, and he eventually made it to his car, which, by the way, didn’t have a licence plate. As he took off in his clearly distinguishable Chevy Malibu, leaking cans of Bud Lite could be seen escaping from it. Talk about drama! Apparently the video of the crime is a bit of a hit with the Polk County Sheriff’s office.

Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire—the direct line of fire that is. This would-be bully couldn’t have had worse luck. A man in Joliet, IL, was fleeing the scene of a crime only to run straight into a police convention.

No kidding. The man was trying to escape police who were after him because his girlfriend claimed he had punched her. He fled, on foot, into a nearby park where some 30 Joliet police officers were attending a seminar on “being prepared for any situation.”

You have to love the serendipity.

Take me to your Leader…err, Owner? Here’s another eerie tale of serendipity. A man in Lincoln, Nebraska was attempting to steal a one of a kind car stereo but didn’t make out so well. After he liberated the stereo from the rightful owner’s car, he went to a sound shop to buy equipment needed to install the stereo system in his own car.

But—you knew there had to be a “but.” But, the man who managed the store was the owner of the sound system. Bingo—you’re busted!

This fellow was arrested for larceny—even though he returned the lawn mower. Go figure.

Early Mother’s Day Gift? A resident of East Lyme, CT, allegedly stole a lawn mower from the local Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Totally Tortelicious | 7711No Comments »6+Worst+Getaway+Plans+of+the+Week2011-05-02+21%3A23%3A30LucyC