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Granting Chase Bank's summary judgment motion against bogus arbitration services providers, a federal court in Nevada found the sham arbitration providers liable for tortious interference, defamation, and conspiracy.
In Chase Bank USA, N.A. v. Dispute Resolution Arbitration Group, No. 02:05-CV-1208-LRH (LRL), 2007 WL 1577853 (D. Nev. May 31, 2007), Dispute Resolution Arbitration Group (DRAG) and its founder, Mark Swanson, created bogus arbitration proceedings purporting to eliminate the credit card debt of Chase Bank's (Chase) customers. Further, DRAG sometimes entered sham arbitration awards against Chase. Chase filed an unopposed summary judgment motion for intentional interference with contractual relations, defamation, civil conspiracy, imposition of liability on Mark Swanson under the alter ego doctrine, and a permanent injunction.
The Court found that DRAG knew Chase and its customers entered into credit card contracts. Further, DRAG led customers to believe its arbitration proceedings were appropriate under the credit card contracts. Given the undisputed facts and its desire to ensure the integrity of arbitration, the Court granted Chase's summary judgment motion on all claims and ordered Chase to present evidence of damages as a result of DRAG's actions.
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