MUNICIPAL Firm Obtains Positive Result for Municipality in Sophisticated Fraud Case Kenneth R. Slater, Jr. recently obtained a positive result for his client, the Town of Burlington, by securing a favorable decision regarding the liability GWT Associates, LLC and one of its individual members after a lengthy trial. GWT Associates, LLC was a developer that was in the process of completing a multi-phase subdivision located in Burlington. The Town required the company to post $165,000 in bond funds for the Town’s benefit to construct public improvements in the event that GWT failed to complete them. When the improvements were never completed and the Town went to the bank to collect the funds, it discovered that the bond funds had been depleted. Slater later uncovered a sophisticated scheme developed by the individual members of the company to create a passbook using company funds for the purpose of leading the Town to believe that the bond funds were on deposit. In reality, the passbook had been pledged as collateral for a bank loan and the loan proceeds were then spent down by the developer. After a multi-day trial, the court ruled that the Town was successful in proving fraud, negligent misrepresentation, violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (CUTPA), civil conspiracy, conversion, statutory theft, and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing against the individual defendant and the company and also found the company in breach of contract. APPELLATE | COMMERCIAL LITIGATION | INSURANCE | LAND USE & ZONING