1. Garlock Swindles a Retired Housewife
(Paraphrased from the article cited below, from the legal reporting website www.Law.com.)
In 1993 William Garlock convinced a retired retail clerk to refinance her home in order to
buy a commercial parking garage with him. He promised her that he would make her
mortgage payments, and would pay her a third of the profits when the garage sold.
Garlock sold the garage in 1997 but did not tell his investor and didn't pay her the profits
he had promised. She sued him in 1999, at which point he retaliated by ceasing to pay for
her mortgage.
The lawsuit took more than 2.5 years, but finally resulted in Superior Court Judge
Quentin Kopp awarding the plaintiff $1.1 million for the sale of the garage, $100,000 in
emotional distress and $2.5 million punitive damages. After the verdict, Cal Law, the
online California legal news source, quoted the victim's attorney describing “a classic tale
of a swindle.”
LAWSUIT: Lydia Mondala vs William Garlock, et al.
Filed July 22, 1999 in San Mateo County Superior Court, Case #CIV411896
http://openaccess1.sanmateocourt.org/openaccess/CIVIL/CivilDetails.asp?courtcode=A&casenumber=4118
96&casetype=CIV&dsn=
Swindled Housewife Awarded $3.7 Million