Any

controversy brewing over the proposed Deer Pointe

annexation and rezoning request could be moot if

a group of Mexican investors gets its way.

In

a lawsuit filed last month in federal court, the

investors are asking that last October's sale of

the nearly 900 acres of land just west of

Fayetteville be voided and the property be used

to help satisfy an $18.9 million judgment handed

down against the previous owners in a

racketeering trial.

The

plaintiffs have alleged that Signa Investment

Corporation and Signa Investments Inc. conducted

a "fire sale" of the Deer Pointe

property to avoid using it to pay the

multi-million-dollar penalty imposed by a federal

jury in the previous suit.

Also

named as defendants in the suit are

Fayetteville's Dan Stinchcomb, who bought and now

owns the property that developer Bob Rolader is

trying to bring into the city for a 454-unit

residential subdivision.

Two

Atlanta law firms have been accused of helping

the sale go through so that the money could be

hidden before the courts could get to it, and

those firms are also defendants, along with First

Citizens Bank of Georgia, which has branches in

Fayette County.

Amir

Virani of Texas and Ignacios Santos of Mexico,

who controlled the Signa companies, were sued by

these same investors in 1997 for fraud, breach of

fiduciary duty and violations of the Racketeering

Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. They

were accused of bilking their investors out of

millions of dollars on real estate deals

throughout the metro Atlanta area, according to

court records.

One

of the properties they bought was Deer Pointe,

the subject of a controversial 1987 annexation

and rezoning that resulted in a deannexation by

the Georgia General Assembly and the eventual

ouster of Fayetteville's mayor and entire City

Council.

four-week trial resulted in the $18.9 million

judgment, which Virani and Santos are currently

appealing.

According

to the allegations in Mier v. Signa, filed Aug. 2

in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, the verdict

was announced Oct. 8 of last year and the

monetary judgment entered by Judge Thomas Thrash

14 days later.

But

only hours and perhaps minutes before the

judgment was announced, the plaintiffs allege,

Signa sold the Deer Pointe land to Stinchcomb for

$6.6 million, at least $1.5 million less than the

property's fair market value as determined by an

independent appraisal.

Signa

then transferred all but about $4,000 of the sale

proceeds to its attorneys and other parties to

prevent it being seized to settle the judgment,

the plaintiffs allege.

"Plaintiffs

seek to set aside and void the deed from Signa to

Stinchcomb, and the security deed from Stinchcomb

to the bank, to the extent necessary to satisfy

plaintiffs' judgment," the suit reads.

When

the original suit was filed in 1997, there was no

lien or security on the Deer Pointe property, the

plaintiffs allege, but a lien was granted to the

Atlanta firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer &

Murphy in late 1998 to secure legal fees.

Here's

how the plaintiffs say the latest Deer Pointe

deal went down, according to court records:

� On Friday night, Oct. 8,

1999 - the same day of the jury verdict

- Virani called Stinchcomb, who had

previously tried to purchase the Deer Pointe

property, and asked if he still wanted it.

� Stinchcomb made an offer of

$6,633,000 - substantially less than what he

had offered five months earlier, and more than $3

million less than what Virani said he had told

other prospective buyers he would require to sell

the land. This time, however, Virani immediately

agreed, on the condition that the sale take place

within the next few weeks.

� Virani and Stinchcomb signed

no contracts, exchanged no earnest money and did

not notify the plaintiffs of the impending sale.

� The closing of the property

began Oct. 22, the same day of the judgment, at 9

a.m. Stinchcomb, the bank, attorney Randall

Lipshutz and his firm of Lipshutz, Greenblatt

& King knew that the court would sign a

judgment at any time.

� Worried that the judgment

would be entered before the closing, Stinchcomb

and the bank called Powell, Goldstein at least

twice that day to find out if it had been

entered. After being notified at about 4:35 p.m.

that it had not, the sale was closed and the

proceeds distributed.

� The title insurance policy

issued by Fidelity National Title Insurance

Company of New York contained a separate

exclusion from coverage based on concerns that

the transaction might be fraudulent. A special

"risk" premium also was charged because

of the fraud possibility, which the plaintiffs

say Stinchcomb, Lipshutz and others involved in

the sale discussed.

� Attorneys for the plaintiffs

learned of the quick Deer Pointe sale a few days

in advance and filed a motion for immediate entry

on the judgment. In a hearing conducted by

telephone, at which Powell, Goldstein was

present, Judge Thrash said he would enter an

immediate judgment and asked the plaintiffs to

have it ready for his signature before 5 p.m.

Powell, Goldstein did not inform the participants

in the Deer Pointe sale of the impending

judgment.

� After the closing, a check

was issued to Powell, Goldstein for about $2.8

million to satisfy the firm's security interest

in the property. Cashier's checks were then

issued for $1.9 million, payable to Santos'

daughter; $550,000, also payable to Santos'

daughter; $960,279, payable to a partnership

controlled by Virani and Santos; and $200,000,

payable to the Lipshutz firm.

When

all was said and done, a total of $3,648.51

remained of the original $6.6-million payment,

according to court records.

Alleging

that all of those financial transactions were

fraudulent and amounted to a civil conspiracy,

the plaintiffs are asking the court to void the

sale of Deer Pointe to Stinchcomb, along with the

security deed held between Stinchcomb and the

bank, as well as the deed to secure debt from

Signa to Powell Goldstein.

They

also are seeking a lien on the property based on

the judgment obtained in the RICO case, and the

return of the funds distributed to the two law

firms, along with judgments for the full value of

the Deer Pointe property, plus punitive damages,

attorneys' fees and expenses of litigation.

The

law firms have publicly denied the allegations,

and attorneys for the plaintiffs have declined to

comment.

Meanwhile,

officials in Fayetteville are wondering what's

going to happen next.

City

Manager Joe Morton said last week that he has

asked Rolader for an update on the legal

proceedings and how lengthy they could be, and

that could be coming at any time.

"We

obviously don't need to keep it on the agenda if

this isn't going to be resolved soon," said

Morton. "The council wouldn't be comfortable

voting on it with this cloud hanging over

it."

Rolader's

request is currently being considered by the

Planning and Zoning Commission. Since that group

is a recommending body, Morton said its ruling

would not be affected one way or the other by the

lawsuit, but the City Council will likely not

even attempt to vote on it until all of the court

issues are settled.

As

for Rolader, he acknowledges that everything

going on in federal court is out of his hands,

and he has plenty to do with the property to keep

him otherwise occupied.

"We'll

just pursue it," he said, referring to the

studies he has ongoing in relation to the lakes,

soil and various physical aspects of the site.

"We're doing a lot of testing that needs to

be done anyway."

Rolader

reiterated his previous statements to the city

that his involvement in the project continues to

the point that it stays in the city, and

Stinchcomb is still the owner of the property.

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