By Marta Lillo
EB5AN has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that EB5 United submitted against the regional center in March.
In the lawsuit, EB5 United accuses EB5AN of making false statements about one of their EB-5 projects in Okeechobee, Florida. They allege that the false information distributed by EB5AN about the Lakefront residential and commercial EB-5 development has led to EB-5 investors abandoning the project and tarnishing the firm’s reputation.
Although EB5AN declined to comment on the lawsuit, they provided a copy of their reply to EB5 Investors Magazine.
In their response filed before the Palm Beach county court on Apr. 1, EB5AN states that the defamation case brought by EB5 United should be dismissed because it fails “to state a claim” as it is based on opinions that are not actionable and do not lead to defamation claims.
The court is now reviewing the reply and is expected to set a hearing date.
“The motion has no merit, and we will be filing a response,” said Bradford Stedem, President and Partner of EB5 United.
EB5AN’s calls for EB5 United claim to be dismissed
The report EB5AN prepared about Lakefront is named “Project Summary Comments” in the lawsuit. This document “is comprised almost entirely of EB5AN’s impressions, views, and beliefs concerning the viability and practicality of the Lakefront Project,” says the motion to dismiss.
“Attempting to scapegoat EB5AN for its own shortcomings and that of its project, Plaintiffs [EB5 United] have framed an ill-conceived defamation case based nearly entirely on EB5AN’s opinions. But opinions are not actionable and do not give rise to defamation claims. The complaint should therefore be dismissed,” the defendants argue in their reply.
As to why EB5AN was distributing information about the Lakefront Project, the regional center explained that “as part of its corporate due diligence or as requested by others in the industry, EB5AN compiles reports summarizing, critiquing, backgrounding, and/or commenting upon projects undertaken by other EB-5 regional centers.”
In their reply, EBAN added that because foreign EB-5 investors can struggle to identify concerns or additional questions in private U.S. investment offerings without experience, many times these applicants rely on professional reviews of EB-5 projects like EB5AN.
EB5AN argues that EB5 United opted to use litigation to smear competitor and escape their own failures. “Their poorly conceived lawsuit takes aim at EB5AN’s constitutionally protected opinions about the Lakefront Project, portraying those opinions as statements of fact and shoehorning them into a defamation and tortious interference case.”
In particular, EB5AN argues that EB5 United fails to “state a cause of action” because they did not attach “the allegedly defamatory” Project Summary Comments document when they filed the lawsuit, and the supposed defamatory statements they included in the lawsuit “are pure opinion, hyperbole, and/or otherwise not actionable.”
The regional center also accused EB5 United of inflammatory rhetoric.
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