SAN DIEGO/EWORLDWIRE/Jan. 30, 2009 --- Michael Boyd, long-time consumer advocate and president of CAlifornians for Renewable Energy Inc. (CARE), today announced that his non-profit organization has teamed up with the Fraud Discovery Institute Inc. (FDI) in an attempt to join forces in a fight for justice through a civil racketeering action being contemplated by the two organizations. "We have parallel interests," said Boyd, whose organization is currently in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to recover $71 billion dollars in overcharges to California's energy rate payers who were defrauded in the year 2000-2001 by deregulated energy companies like Enron.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) came on CARE's radar back in 2006 when a planned 1600-home community started development of Parcel A of the former U.S. Naval shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco. The site of CARE's office, the development turned into a potential death trap for those in the community due to Lennar's demolition activities which disturbed naturally occurring asbestos, exposing the surrounding low-income African-American community to toxic dust on a repeated basis.
"It was not a difficult decision, after reviewing the FDI 'Top 10 Red Flags for Fraud,' to see that FDI had clearly established a pattern of behavior by Lennar over a sustained period of time that impacted and continues to impact Lennar's victims - the defenseless public all over the USA," added Boyd.
Mr. Lynne Brown, a resident of the Bay View community and vice president of CARE, stated, "We want to investigate Lennar and the politicians and government entities that aided and abetted the company."
According to Barry Minkow, co-founder of the Fraud Discovery Institute Inc., "Michael Boyd has been a man who has dedicated his life to fighting for the underdog - and usually against the well-funded, bully enemy. If there was ever the perfect opponent for him to take on, it would be Lennar Corporation which devastates communities from Hutto, Texas, to Hunters Point in San Francisco."
The two organizations, having identified and agreed on legal counsel, are in the process of preparing a civil RICO case to be filed in Federal Court in San Francisco. The case will be based on the numerous predicate acts alleged in the Fraud Discovery Institute's original report and Boyd's supported allegations of blatant negligence by Lennar Corporation at Hunters Point.
"We have also had discussions with other victims of the Lennar business practices and believe the victims are best served by uniting," said Minkow.
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