Monongalia inmate sues for unjust enrichment

MORGANTOWN -- A Monongalia County former business owner is seeking over a million dollars for unjust enrichment of his business partners.

Frank Masiarczyk, formerly of Grantsville, claims Darwin F. Johnson,
Vance River Terminal, Inc., and Melvin Bankhead are profiting from his personal property and his incarceration.

In the suit filed on Feb. 8, Masiarczyk, a currently incarcerated inmate in Monongalia County, states that he was the defendant in Monongalia Circuit Court case number 1-C-620 and that Johnson, Vance River Terminal, Inc. and Bankhead were plaintiffs in that case. The case was part of a federal investigation into the Excalibur Club, an establishment owned by all four.

Masiarczyk claims following his incarceration, the result of the case was his personal property of $1,000,000 being turned over to Johnson, VRT and Bankhead. Masiarczyk even went so far as to take the case to the United States Supreme Court in an attempt to have the ruling overturned, but the court order stood as did Masiarczyk's incarceration.

However, he claims they were never supposed to profit from his property.

Filed by Masiarczyk himself, the suit states that part of the profit is from the continuing use of the "Excalibur Club" trademark and improvements made to the property without his permission. The market value of the property now exceeds $1,450,000.

Masiarczyk is seeking the return of his property at its current market value, access to the property to inventory changes made, $750,000 for the original property itself or reimbursement of its value, $700,000 for its current market value and improvements as well as the profits earned that he believes the defendants were not entitled to.

He is also seeking penalties to be applied for trademark infringement and continued use of the name "Excalibur Club."

He is seeking a trial by jury to decide awards.

Monongalia County Circuit Court case number: 06-C-91