by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC
In a published decision December 2, 2014, Connecticut Federal Judge Jeffrey Meyer concluded that Woodbridge Structured Funding has a prima facie case and denied a motion by Genex Strategies, Inc., Canadian owners of Genex Capital Corporation, and structuredsettlement-quotes(dot)com to dismiss the case Woodbridge has filed against them. Discovery in the matter continues against Genex Strategies, Inc and the other Defendants with the judge indicating that some of the issues raised by Genex Strategies, Inc could be revisited at a later stage.
Genex Strategies Inc had been attempting to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds and failure to state a cognizable claim for relief.
The published decision also confirms that Genex purchased an interest in SSQ in late 2011 which is consistent with my research and what I have reported here. SSQ displayed and continues display a Hartford CT address that at 100 Pearl Street that is a Regus office center, which was paid for at several times with Genex Strategies, Inc. and Genex Capital COO Boris Drubetsky's credit card. Mail was forwarded to Genex CEO Roger Proctor's condo at the Fairmont Pacific Rim 1011 West Cordova Street in Vancouver, BC.
Judge Meyer's decision addresses an aspect of the CT long arm statute which applies if the defendant transacts business in Connecticut without authority from the Connecticut Secretary of State.
My research shows that many settlement purchasers are soliciting Connecticut residents with no record of authority. Moreover, if Denise Merrill, the Connecticut Secretary of State and her counterparts in other states all across the United States did some investigation they might find a nice source of revenue that they could use to establish sorely needed regulatory oversight of how consumers and investors are solicited by companies that buy structured settlement payments ( "cash now pushers")
Here's an excerpt of what the judge said:
The appropriate long-arm statute provision for consideration is Conn. Gen. Stat. § 33-
929(e).1
It provides: ―Every foreign corporation which transacts business in this state in violation
of section 33-920 shall be subject to suit in this state upon any cause of action arising out of such
business.‖ Unlike other long-arm provisions in the statute, this provision contains no residency
requirement for the plaintiff bringing suit. Kun Shan Ge Rui Te Tool Co. v. Mayhew Steel Prods.,
Inc., 821 F. Supp. 2d 498, 502 (D. Conn. 2010). Section 33-920, which it references, prohibits a
foreign corporation from ―transact[ing] business in this state until it obtains a certificate of
authority from the Secretary of the State.‖ Conn. Gen. Stat. § 33-920(a). Therefore, § 33-929(e)
―authorizes personal jurisdiction over a foreign corporation where: (1) the corporation has
transacted business in Connecticut without having obtained a certificate of authority from the
Secretary of State; and (2) the [plaintiff's] cause of action arises out of such business.‖ Preferred
Display, 642 F. Supp. 2d at 104.
The decision notes that Genex Strategies Inc, conceded at oral argument that it does not have a certificate of authority in CT. Neither does Genex Capital for that matter. Download Genex Capital no records with CT Secretary of State 12-4-2014. There is clear evidence from a plethora of sources that Genex Capital is soliciting and transacting business with CT residents. I reckon Genex Capital owes the State of CT some bucks.