Document for ARNTSEN FAMILY PARTNERSHIP, LP, et al vs. GREGORY J DAVIS, et al

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                                1   Collin J. Vierra (State Bar No. 322720)
     EIMER STAHL LLP
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     99 S. Almaden Blvd., Ste. 600
 3   San Jose, CA 95113-1605
     Telephone: (408) 889-1668
 4   Email: cvierra@eimerstahl.com
 5   Attorney for Plaintiffs
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 7                     SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
 8                                    COUNTY OF SAN MATEO
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      Robert Arntsen; Mary Lee; Arntsen Family          Case No. 22-CIV-01148
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      Partnership, LP; and Brian Christopher Dunn
11    Custodianship;                                    Dept. 21

12                   Plaintiffs,                        Hon. Robert D. Foiles
      v.
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14    David M. Bragg; Silicon Valley Real Ventures DECLARATION OF MARY LEE
      LLC; SVRV 385 Moore, LLC; SVRV 387
15    Moore, LLC; Gregory J. Davis; Kevin Wolfe;
      Jason Justesen; Paramont Woodside, LLC;
16    and Paramont Capital, LLC;
17                   Defendants.
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     DECLARATION OF MARY LEE
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              I, Mary Lee, attest as follows:
 2            1.     I am over the age of 18, of sound mind, and otherwise competent to make this
 3   Declaration. I am 75 years old. I suffered a stroke in August 2022.
 4            2.     On June 30, 2018, I invested $100,000 in the Moore Road Project after discussing
 5   the operating agreements and investment-subscription agreement with Bob and Martha, which I
 6   understood Dave 1 had presented to them several months earlier. A true and correct copy of a check
 7   showing this investment is attached as Exhibit A. I also understood from speaking with Bob that
 8   he had previously invested with Dave’s company Silicon Valley Real Ventures, LLC (“SVRV”),
 9   and that Dave had told him his investment had been highly successful. Specifically, I understood
10   that Bob’s money had been used for another SVRV project called the SVRV Land project. As I
11   found out later, Dave lied about the status of the SVRV Land project. During discovery, Dave
12   admitted that “[t]here were no proceeds from the SVRV Land project to roll over into the Moore
13   Road Project.” Vierra Aff. ¶ 8, Ex. D (Response to RFA 16). The SVRV Land project had in fact
14   lost a considerable amount of money, including much of Bob’s initial investment. I never would
15   have invested with Dave had I known the truth about this.
16            3.     On August 29, 2018, Dave contacted me to say he was ready to “process the
17   investor agreements,” which I understand to mean that the operating agreements and investment-
18   subscription agreement pursuant to which our family had invested would be updated to reflect the
19   exact amounts we had invested. A true and correct copy of the August 29, 2018 email from Dave
20   is attached as Exhibit B. Dave never sent the updated copies of these agreements as promised.
21            4.     Nearly one year later, in June 2019, Dave sent me new operating agreements and
22   investment-subscription agreements, which were completely different from the ones that I had
23   agreed to in 2018. Most significantly, these agreements, which Dave had apparently signed with
24   Paramont seven months earlier, purported to grant me no membership interest in the Moore Road
25   LLCs. Instead, under these agreements, only Paramont and SVRV were members in the Moore
26   Road LLCs. And to the extent that SVRV’s investment somehow reflected my interest in the
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28   1   Hereinafter, “Dave” refers collectively to Dave and SVRV.
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     DECLARATION OF MARY LEE
 1   property (even though I had not invested in SVRV and had never been given an associated

 2   ownership interest in that company) my interest was given a subordinate equity position to that of

 3   Paramont. I never consented to any amendment to the original operating agreements pursuant to

 4   which I invested. Accordingly, I refused to sign these new, unauthorized agreements. True and

 5   correct copies of these agreements, showing that I did not sign them, are attached as Exhibits C,

 6   D, E, and F. Dave also admitted in discovery that I never signed these agreements. Vierra Aff. ¶ 7,

 7   Ex. B (Response to RFAs 9, 11). Dave also admitted in discovery that he never shared these

 8   operating agreements with me until June 2019. Vierra Aff. ¶ 8, Ex. C (Response to RFA 14). Dave
 9   apparently hid their existence from me because he knew they were contrary to our operative
10   agreement. I also did not know until this litigation that Dave later signed different investment-
11   subscription agreements with Jacky Huang.
12          5.      On March 23, 2020, Dave emailed to say that he needed more money for the Moore
13   Road Project. He said that without fulfilling these “immediate capital needs for March 2020,” “the
14   properties will/could go into default” putting all of our financial contributions at risk. A true and
15   correct copy of the March 23, 2020 email from Dave is attached as Exhibit G. Dave then arranged
16   a call, which included his co-director, Kurtis Kludt, to discuss this in further detail. On that call,
17   Dave and Kurtis told us that they needed a total of $19,500 immediately, most of which was to
18   come from me and my family. Dave and Kurtis told us that this money would be treated as a loan

19   at 12% interest with prioritized repayment upon sale of the Moore Road properties. The only entity

20   that would be paid before us was the senior lender, Genesis. He assured us that this loan would be

21   repaid before any equity.

22          6.      On April 1, 2020, believing the money was needed to preserve the Moore Road

23   Project, I loaned $2,262 to the Moore Road Project. A true and correct copy of a bank record

24   evidencing this transfer obtained from First Republic Bank in discovery is attached as Exhibit H.

25   I did not learn until the state-court litigation that Dave actually used this money to pay his business

26   partner, Kurtis. Vierra Aff. ¶ 10, Ex. F.

27          7.      When the Moore Road properties sold in September and October 2020, Dave

28   refused to return any money to me. Dave refused to return any money to me even though Paramont

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     DECLARATION OF MARY LEE
 1   received its capital back and received a significant profit. Dave admitted this in discovery. Vierra

 2   Aff. ¶ 6, Ex. B (Response to RFA 12). I did not learn until this litigation that Dave signed an

 3   explicit agreement with Paramont purporting to prevent me from receiving any funds from the

 4   Moore Road LLCs after the properties sold.

 5          8.      Dave told me all of my investments and loans would be used exclusively for the

 6   Moore Road Project. I relied on this when making my investments and loans, and I never would

 7   have authorized my money to be used for any other purpose. In summary, Dave defrauded me of:

 8                  a. $100,000 from my equity investment in the Moore Road Project;
 9                  b. $2,262 in principal on my April 1, 2020 loan and 12% interest on that loan
10                      running from April 1, 2020 to the present.
11          9.      Dave’s fraud has also caused me to forego years of interest and to incur significant
12   attorneys’ fees in the form of a 33% contingency on my recover(ies).
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15          I declare under penalty of perjury, under the laws of the State of California, that the
16   foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
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20          Dated: March 21, 2023
                                                              Mary Lee
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     DECLARATION OF MARY LEE