Content area
Full Text
Popular Leasing USA Inc., based in Ballwin, could end up losing millions of dollars because of its entanglement with Norvergence Inc., a New Jersey-based company alleged to have perpetrated one of the nation's largest telecommunications scams.
Popular was named in a court complaint filed Nov. 15 by 192 Norvergence customers seeking to invalidate about $6.8 million worth of telecommunications equipment lease agreements they have with Popular Leasing. Norvergence sold or assigned the leases to Popular Leasing between 2001 and June this year, according to the court filing.
The customers' lawsuit comes about five months after Norvergence was forced into bankruptcy by three creditors, including Popular Leasing. Since the bankruptcy filing , made in U.S Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J., thousands of customers and authorities in several states have alleged that Norvergence and its owners ran a massive scheme that bilked customers of millions of dollars.
Robert Greenbaum, a partner at Robert D. Greenbaum & Associates LLC in Philadelphia, said the lawsuit he filed on behalf of the customers is part of an effort to invalidate leases Norvergence had...