Redirect to what this thread is really about. Any updates on the case?
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Next Court Hearing March 14
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I’m guessing what you mean by “people” is American people. Because Brits and Europeans certainly knew of him long, long before Valegro. And unless they live under a rock, most true dressage fans, whether in America or elsewhere, had heard of many others besides Anky and Isabell.
Plaintiff attorney to depose Peslar and Ots: Interesting.
http://dressage-news.com/2018/01/13/depositions-to-be-taken-from-bethany-peslar-endel-ots-in-caroline-roffman-horse-sale-suit/
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Update: They settled.
Not surprising.
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So, what’s next. How / does the federation have any footing here re: sanctions?
Not surprising at all
What federation rules were broken?
There is some precedent for banning people who are convicted of felonies relating to abuse of the horse. Conducting a slimy financial deal isn’t a bannable offense, unless they want to ban most of the big names out there these days.
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If they sanctioned slimy business deals- I’d be one of the few in the class
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Well, I would think fraud at that scale would be a felony, so there is that. Slimy isn’t illegal, but fraud is.
That said, this was a civil suit. My guess is that the various people involved didn’t want to have the upcoming depositions on the record and therefore settled.
I am not an attorney but guessing that if the various depositions never happen, it is much less likely to ever end up in criminal court. Perhaps one of the attorneys can chime in with additional insight -
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One person’s opinion: CR wrote a decent sized check…
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Reading between the lines, Caroline didn’t want Bethany and Endel’s testimony on the record and wrote a FAT check to keep Alice quiet. Unreal.
I’d like to think it will harm her business,but in reality she’ll keep doing it and making money hand over filthy fist .
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Money that she didn’t need in the first place.
I’m sure there was a financial settlement involved. What little I know of Alice, she didn’t get where she is by letting things go for the lowest bid. Whatever the settlement was, it didn’t involve just an apology and everyone moves on.
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I think it’s important to keep in mind that just because someone settles a lawsuit doesn’t mean they did anything wrong. It’s very common for parties to settle because it’s cheaper than paying all the legal fees for them to battle it out in court. Even when the original lawsuit is completely frivolous.
However, in this instance, short of real evidence to prove otherwise, I think Caroline Rothman is a crook and a liar. She thinks she is above the laws, rules, ethics and morals that the rest of us lowly people play by. I can think of a few choice four letter words to describe such a person.
I get the feeling that Alice must have gotten a HUGE settlement to keep this out of court. If the facts in the lawsuit are true, I couldn’t imagine being bought out by a crook like that regardless of the payout. It’s just the principle of the matter. Accepting a settlement allows Caroline to avoid any possible criminal consequences and to continue to deny the allegations to anyone who will listen.
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I thought the federation had added rules about business practice / corruption and double agency
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I would think that there could still be issues with IRS and bookkeeping practices.
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Hmmm… assuming this is not the first time she pulled this (unlikely), my guess is an IRS audit would yield quite a bit of fruit.
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specifically, lots of rotten apples
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This is definitely not the first time Caroline has settled a case. It’s simply the first time that the press has gotten wind of a lawsuit actually being filed. In Wellington, it’s pretty common knowledge of what exactly went down with this deal.
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I might also add that the settlement comes on the heels of Ms. Roffman or Mrs. Meredith, whatever she goes by now, selling Her Majesty TF.
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