According to a report from LawStreetMedia, CNH Industrial Capital America has filed a complaint against Venture Equipment and its member-manager Steve Merrit alleging breach of contract and fraud.
The report states the following:
CNH alleges that on March 7, 2022, it conducted an onsite inventory audit of its collateral under the WFSA (Wholesale Financing and Security Agreement) and found that 225 of the secured assets under the agreement were unaccounted for. The complaint further alleges that the majority of the assets were sold out of trust by Venture and the sale proceeds converted with the other being purely fictitious trade-ins causing CNH to advance funds with those proceeds also being converted to Venture. CNH argues that this fraudulent action resulted in Venture converting $5,109,514.24 of proceeds that should have been paid to CNH.
CNH further alleges that Merrit admitted to concealing the sale of secured assets by misrepresenting the financial condition of Venture. Additionally, the complaint purports that Merritt further admitted to assigning 151 retail financing contracts to CNH with a value of $9,241,724.29, that were forgeries, fraudulent and/or violated the RFA resulting in $5,895,268.08 outstanding balance to CNH. CNH argues that the defendants intentionally misrepresented its assets and liabilities to appear as if it was fulfilling its obligations and not in breach of its contracts with CNH.