TORRANCE, CAAgnewBrusavich, a Torrance-based serious personal injury law firm, filed a cross-complaint on behalf of their clients, Shawn Colvin and Vickie Marder with Get Lit, Inc., against Luxul Technologies, its founder and CEO James Pan for fraud, false arrest, defamation, breach of contract and intentional interference with a prospective economic advantage.

The cross-complaint alleges Mr. Pan set out on a scheme to use Mr. Colvin and Ms. Marder to establish a North American network of sales representatives to sell Luxul products, have them arrested and hope for prosecution to cheat them out of their commissions and promises of stock in Luxul in exchange for all of their efforts.

“This is yet another example of corporate criminal conduct to cheat people who believed in the promises of a CEO,” said lead lawyer Bruce M. Brusavich of AgnewBrusavich.

BACKGROUND

Luxul Technologies began manufacturing operations in Taiwan of lighting tubes with Light Emitting Diodes (LED) that would replace traditional fluorescent tubes without the need to rewire the fixture or change the ballast. In 2013, Mr. Pan sought to move the fabricating and assembly of the tubes to Santa Clara, California, where he could market them as “Made in America.”     Mr. Pan recruited Mr. Colvin and Ms. Marder to abandon their business plan with Get Lit to exclusively market Luxul Technologies products. By March 2014, Mr. Colvin and Ms. Marder had established a North American network of representatives and sales, which were projected to be in the millions of dollars, where they would obtain a commission on every Luxul tube sold. 

On March 24, 2014, Mr. Pan had Mr. Colvin and Ms. Marder arrested by the Santa Clara Police Department with false charges of theft and impersonation.  After being interrogated separately for several hours by the Santa Clara Police Department, including showing the police officers emails from Mr. Pan confirming their relationship, they were released by the detectives with an apology and no charges being filed.  Facing the possibility of the District Attorney filing charges against Mr. Pan for filing a false police report, he quickly filed a lawsuit against Mr. Colvin, Ms. Marder and Get Lit on April 29, 2014, to try to justify his conduct.

The suit also alleges that Mr. Pan has kept his investors, including billionaire Tim Draper’s DFJ Dragon Fund China, in the dark about his financial misdeeds. 

The complaint seeks millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages.