A 5-year-old fraud committed by memorabilia maven John Rogers of North Little Rock has given rise to a new lawsuit.
William “Mac” Hogan, a former investor with Rogers, sued Stephen Plunkett and Plunkett Boerner & Associates Inc. in connection with a $900,000 loan from Bank of Little Rock.
Rogers obtained the loan to fund a bogus scanning equipment purchase from a phantom Oregon company that he set up to funnel the money back to himself. Hogan signed as a personal guarantor on the loan to Rogers and his Sports Cards Plus.
In September, Bank of Little Rock landed a judgment against Hogan that has grown to more than $750,000. Hogan posted funds to cover the judgment and filed a notice of appeal.
The judgment entered in Pulaski County Circuit Court notes Bank of Little Rock did not verify the legitimacy of the company and account information before wiring the funds and also did not inspect or obtain an appraisal of the collateral.
Hogan recites those facts as grounds for his lawsuit against Plunkett, who allegedly served as the de facto loan officer in the deal.
Hogan’s complaint accuses Plunkett and his firm of negligence and fraud for not disclosing the failure to follow bank policy to authenticate the collateral and more.
Stephen Plunkett is described as a financial consultant and loan broker for Bank of Little Rock. Hogan’s lawsuit notes that the bank’s documentation erroneously listed the loan officer as Pete Maris, who is president of Bank of Little Rock.
Hogan is seeking a jury trial in Pulaski County Circuit Court to recover more than $1 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages of more than $5 million.
Other Stuff
It’s been more than a year since the last filing of a John Rogers-related lawsuit.
That case ended with Robert Failing Jr. and his wife, Marion, obtaining a $900,000 default judgment against Rogers and his SGT73 LLC in January 2018.
The court action stemmed from a November 2017 collection suit of $739,750. The money was tied to a December 2014 loan to Rogers and the limited liability company.
Whispers also stumbled across one more financial footnote in the crash-and-burn of the serial fraudster. Back in June, the state of Arkansas filed a claim of more than $1.8 million against Rogers for 2012-13 taxes.
These days, the former denizen of Snake Hill Manor resides in the Forrest City federal pen with a scheduled release date of April 26, 2028.
Rogers was sentenced a year ago in U.S. District Court in Chicago to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $23,552,370, a figure based on actual out-of-pocket losses by 26 known victims.
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