RSS Feed
It’s hard to keep up with all the litigation involving Roque De La Fuente.
The South Bay developer and car dealer has received a good deal of publicity since a trial jury award of $94.5 million in 2001, the largest damages ever assessed against the city of San Diego, which was promptly appealed.
The stakes in the case, now pending in the state Court of Appeal in Riverside, are even higher now, thanks to interest charges on the award that have increased its total to more than $110 million.
In addition to that case, Border Business Park v. City of San Diego, De La Fuente-owned businesses are also engaged in a federal land condemnation case originally filed in 1999. This case, which began trial in federal court last week, involves the purchase of 17.69 acres of his property just east of the Otay Mesa border crossing where the government wants to construct a larger and more efficient border entry.
Concurrently, two De La Fuente businesses are suing the city in Superior Court over the same issues city attorneys said were already resolved in the Border Business Park case.
Though it may appear so, De La Fuente isn’t invincible in all his legal battles with the government.
On Nov. 29, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied his appeal of an earlier ruling by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. permanently banning De La Fuente from any future involvement in the banking industry.
The appellate court upheld the original 1997 FDIC ruling that said De La Fuente engaged in “violations, unsafe or unsound banking practices, and/or acts, omissions, or practices which constitute breaches of fiduciary duty to the bank” while he was the chairman and majority owner of First International Bank in Chula Vista. The bank changed its name to San Diego Community Bank, but De La Fuente still retains a 5 percent stake in it.
To top it off, De La Fuente, 51, is the defendant in a divorce case that has been ongoing since 2002.
De La Fuente, who returned to San Diego last week from a temporary residence in Uruguay to testify, said his reputation as a person intent on suing the government at every turn is undeserved.
“All I’ve done is that when anyone caused a wrong to us is that we’ve been willing to stand up for our rights and defend ourselves,” he said. “What I would compare (his legal battles with government) is David against Goliath.”
Vincent Bartolotta, De La Fuente’s lead attorney, said his client doesn’t sue for the fun of it, only when he isn’t paid fairly for the property the government wants.
“He’s a businessman, and he’s got a lot of business going and he’s affiliated with a lot of different property, and when the government takes it, he deserves to get paid for it for what would have been its highest and best use,” Bartolotta said.
Another view: “He seems to make his living litigating against public entities,” said Kristine Wilkes, an attorney for Latham
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted in 
