PHILIPPI – A Barbour County couple who own a telecommunications company is suing another firm and their owners, alleging unlawful property conversion, saying the defendants engaged in subterfuge by manipulating corporate accounts.
Gary Thompson, Laurel Thompson and Mount Liberty Connections Inc. filed a lawsuit in Barber Circuit Court against Brandon Wilson, Rosemarie Wilson, Trinity Communications and Trinity Communications Inc., alleging breach of contract dating to July 2013.
According to the complaint, on July 19, 2013, the Thompsons signed an agreement with Brandon Wilson to sell him their Mount Liberty business for $35,000. According to the contract, Wilson would have access to all equipment but the plaintiffs would retain ownership until the sum was paid in full, the suit says. The firm was primarily in the business of selling nTelos wireless services in the Barbour County area.
The lawsuit states that Wilson agreed to split profits with the plaintiffs going forward; that he paid $8,410.66 of the total between July and December of 2013; and that all parties entered into a yearlong lease agreement on a building in Belington subsequent to corporate changes that enabled the defendants to access Mount Liberty’s checking account.
According to the plaintiffs, after they transferred 49 percent of the company stock to the defendants, Wilson procured a credit card for the firm without giving the plaintiffs access to the account.
Subsequent to Mount Liberty’s Oct. 18, 2013, new facility grand opening, the suit states, Wilson registered a new business, Trinity Communications LLC, and in December, ceased to split profits with the plaintiffs as previously agreed, shut the plaintiffs out of their email account, and converted all assets to his new company.
In January 2014, the Wilsons allegedly refused to refund any money, cancelled their lease, transferred their office to new quarters, and began to operate two new stores under the Trinity name.
Charging breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion and tortuous interference with a business relationship, the Thompsons seek compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by Scott Curnutte of WVU College of Law in Morgantown.
Barbour Circuit Court case number 15-C-46