Lansford business target of fed lawsuit
The former owners of a beleaguered Lansford business firm found themselves the target of a second federal lawsuit Friday, this one contending breach of contract for failing to repay an $800,000 loan as promised.
In the civil suit, filed Thursday in U.S. Middle District Court, Scranton, Longview Fund LP, of San Francisco, California, claims that Stanley and Angela Costello, Lansford, who owned All Staffing Inc., failed to honor a guaranty to repay as promised the $800,000 loan Longview made to All Staffing in November 2007.
According to the suit, filed by Attorney Alan S. Fellheimer, Longview's manager notified All Staffing in a July 14, 2008, letter that the loan was due in entirety, but that Longview would accept weekly payments commencing July 21, 2008, and have the loan entirely repaid by June 30, 2010.
All Staffing agreed to the terms, but has made no payments since Aug. 11, 2009 and so, according to the suit, has defaulted on the loan. they owe $684,017.85 on the principal and $62,416.11 in interest through Feb. 4, for a total of $746,433.96.
In addition, the suit asks for an ongoing default rate interest of $337.32 per day until the loan is paid in full, costs and attorney's fees.
Longview is named, along with all Staffing and others, in a civil suit filed in April 2009 by Oriska Insurance Co. of New York. That suit, which contends the Costellos and others defrauded Oriska of millions of dollars in a workers' compensation fraud that began in 1990, continues to wend its way through federal court in Manhattan.
The Oriska suit defendants include All Staffing, Longview Fund LP, Longview Fund International Ltd., Hedge Fund Services Inc., Dalarada Financial Group, Phoenix Capital Group LLC, Stanley and Angela Costello, Paula Digilio, ASI Employer Solutions, Viking Asset Management LLC, and Brock Employee Services Inc. dba All Staffing Services.
In a related matter, the Costellos have filed a civil suit in Carbon County Court against All Staffing Inc. and one of its officers, Tom Eagen; SAC and one of its officers, Eric Bossard. The suit contends the Costellos were employees of all Staffing Inc., which was sold to SAC and that the defendants failed to pay them wages and against all Staffing for breach of contract.
According to the suit, Stanley Costello was chief executive officer and Angela Costello was chief operating officer of All Staffing when it was sold to SAC on Aug. 21, 2009. The purchase, the suit states, constituted a change of control under employment agreements with the couple.
The suit states that on Aug. 21, 2009, All Staffing "purportedly" terminated the employment of the Costellos and that they were never notified of the termination.
the Costellos have demanded payments of their wages due for work they performed from Aug. 17 to 23, 2009. The suit states All Staffing was late with the payments, that the amounts were wrong and that deductions taken were not proper.
The suits asks the court to award the Costellos an amount "sufficient to compensate them for their unpaid wages or benefits plus liquidated damages, attorneys' fees and costs."
