KANSAS CITY – A Cass County couple is suing Arizona businessmen claiming they schemed to solicit and retain investment funds for a non-existent entity.
In a suit filed May 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Steven and Deborah Archibald claim that John Myers and Kenneth Marg of Scottsdale, Arizona operated a series of businesses relating to the sale, installation and marketing of security systems, including SkyTec Corp. and Network Referral Systems. The Archibalds claim they provided the defendants with more than $100,000 in funds from their retirement accounts.
According to the complaint, Myers and Marg, whom the Archibalds were introduced to in 2013 through their family member, Daniel Madasz, promised the Archibalds "a quick and profitable return on investment" by buying into an existing turn-key operation - SkyTec Security Services of Texas LLC - but which did not really exist.
The Archibalds allege they were told that with their investment, they would become 5 percent shareholders in the business, which would generate for them approximately $4,150 per month in gross profit, a "conservative" figure, the suit says.
Myers and Marg produced documents showing that SkyTec Security was a Delaware-formed LLC - however the company is not registered in Delaware, the suit says.
The Archibalds made demands to be made whole in March 2017, and in the following month Myers said he was working on getting company books and financial records for them.
"To date Myers has never provided any such records," the suit says.
The plaintiffs allegedly also never received any distributions from SkyTec Texas or any promised interest from a proposed conversion of their initial investment into a note.
"...the defendants knew SkyTec Texas did not exist, and sought to conceal the fraudulent entity and retain the Archibalds’ investment by making the misrepresentations, false statements, and fraudulent statements," the suit says.
The Archibalds are represented by attorneys at Duggan Shadwick Doerr & Kurlbaum of Overland Park, Kansas.
They seek restitution of funds they invested, as well as punitive damages.