INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A lawsuit claims that Scott Wise, founder of Scotty’s Brewhouse, defrauded two investors and lied to them about several matters, including the sale of the restaurant chain to a private equity group.
The investors, Mark Bosler and Michael Murray, said Wise told them both that the company had $5 million in debt and would be sold for $20 million. Wise later told them the company was actually sold for $10 million and that the company had $8 million in debt. The lawsuit claims that Wise knew all along that the company wouldn’t sell for the $20 million price he had touted.
The two men said they’ve lost over $1 million that they had invested following the 2008 financial crisis.
Bosler also claims Wise told him that he would “double his money” in a year.
The men also claim Wise tried to get them to sign an “indemnity agreement” which “released Wise of all liability if he were to pay both men $500,000” and “included a provision that Bosler and Murray would pay $100,000 for any disparaging remarks they might make about him to third parties.”
The men did not sign that agreement.
They also say he didn’t disclose a yearly salary that he would receive after selling the company.
Bosler and Murray also claim that Wise sold them securities in Scotty’s Holdings that weren’t federally-covered securities and that the securities were not registered under the Indiana Securities Act.
The men are seeking the return of approximately $1 million, plus interest and attorney’s fees.
(Photo by WISH-TV.)
