Former CEO of Lobster 207 Named in Civil Racketeering Lawsuit
Portland, ME, December 5, 2019 (Press Release) — Lobster 207, LLC, a Trenton, Maine lobster wholesale co-op owned by the members of the Maine Lobstering Union (MLU), has filed a civil action against its former CEO Warren B. Pettegrow of Trenton and his company, Poseidon Charters, Inc., Anthony D. and Josette G. Pettegrow of Trenton and their company, Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound, Inc., and Stephen M. Peabody of Addison. The allegations are predicated on the violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act involving the theft and embezzlement of funds of a labor organization and wire fraud, as well as allegations of common law fraud, breaches of contracts, conversion, breaches of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment.
The lawsuit was filed on December 4 , 2019 in U.S. District Court by McCloskey, Mina, Cunniff & Frawley, LLC of Portland, Maine on behalf of Lobster 207 and the members of the Maine Lobstering Union, a division of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) District 4. The suit alleges that the Defendants engaged in a systematic scheme and pattern of racketeering activity designed to enrich themselves at Lobster 207’s expense. In 2017, the Maine Lobstering Union purchased the wholesale operations of the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound from Anthony and Josette Pettegrow. As part of the transaction, Warren Pettegrow was named as CEO of Lobster 207 and the Pettegrows entered into contracts by which they would withdraw from the wholesale business altogether and not compete with or impede Lobster 207’s wholesale lobster operations.
The RICO allegations set forth in this complaint state that between March of 2017 and April of 2019, the defendants formed an unlawful enterprise through which they embezzled funds, submitted fraudulent invoices, up-charged for lobster products and competed with the wholesale lobster business that they had sold to Lobster 207. Warren Pettegrow was terminated for cause as Lobster 207’s CEO in April 2019.
“This complaint alleges numerous schemes involving embezzlement and fraud under both the federal RICO act and Maine law,” said Thimi Mina, who represents the Plaintiff Lobster 207. “The amount of money allegedly involved in these schemes caused significant financial injuries to Lobster 207. The men and women of Maine’s lobstering community deserve to function in a marketplace that is honest, transparent and free of corruption. The ultimate objective of this lawsuit is to recover the money which rightfully belongs to the Maine Lobstering Union and its wholesale lobster business, Lobster 207.”
The civil components of the allegations allow the recovery of treble damages, triple the amount of actual compensatory damages.