EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.—A number of officers from Scott Credit Union have responded to a lawsuit filed by former St. Louis Cardinals football player Dave Butz and a St. Louis man that claims the CU engaged in consumer fraud involving millions of dollars.
Eleven members of the Scott board of directors and CEO Frank Padak, all named in the Butz lawsuit, claim the plaintiffs attempt to serve a summons was inappropriate and unauthorized, the Madison Record reported. The defendants claim the plaintiffs attempted to serve summons on them by delivering them to the law office of Michael Forster on April 23, rather than attempting to personally serve the summons, the motion states. Further, the defendants claim Forster has not been retained as counsel in this case.
“However, Michael Forster never suggested or represented to the plaintiffs’ attorney that he would accept service of summons for Certain Individual Defendants and Mr. Forster is not and never has been an agent for service of summons for any of the Certain Individual Defendants. Indeed, Mr. Forster has not been retained in any capacity by any of the Certain Individual Defendants with respect to this case,” the motion states.
Butz, of Swansea, who played as a defensive lineman for the Cardinals for two seasons and for the Washington Redskins for 14, and Eugene Schill of St. Louis filed a lawsuit April 22.
The suit names Scott CU Union; Ted Longust, individually and as a director on the board; Padak, Chris Browner, Steve Stryker, Adam Koisher, Sridhar Kondapalli, Brian Waldron, Marna Asbury, Janice Pyszka, Scott Peters, Dale Beard and Craig Burkhard as defendants. The $1.1-billion Scott CU is the official sponsor of the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.
According to the complaint, Butz and Schill allege that Scott CU removed currency and opened unsecured lines of credit from the plaintiffs’ accounts. The suit also claims the defendants falsified documents, forged signatures, attempted to collect millions from past due accounts that were unauthorized and unsupported and that they willfully used the plaintiffs’ names to extend commercial lines of credit to fictitious and/or random companies unrelated to the plaintiffs. (Former NFL Standout Alleges He Is Victim Of CU Fraud)
In the complaint, Butz and Schill said they endured obstacles in their ability to legitimately borrow money, start new business ventures and uphold their professional reputations. They claim they are now personal guarantors for millions of dollars in fraudulent lines of credit that are now in arrears. They further claim violations of the Illinois Credit Union Act and breach of fiduciary duty.
The plaintiffs seek injunctive action to remove officers alleged to have made infringements, along with damages in excess of $50,000.