MADISON - ST. CLAIR RECORD

Two people claim they lost more than $300,000 after they were misled into supposedly purchasing stocks and property, only to later discover the stocks were never transferred into their name and the property was sold to a third party.

Tarunkumar Patel and Kantibhai Patel filed a lawsuit Oct. 9 in Madison County Circuit Court against Ghanshyam Management, Popatial S. Patel and Gita H. Patel.

The plaintiffs claim they purchased stock from the defendants in June 2006 for $125,000. At the time of the transaction, Ghanshyam owned a convenience store at 2904 West Delmar in Godfrey, which was known as Melville Dairy Store, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs agreed to pay the remaining $81,000 left on the store's mortgage and they began operating the store themselves, the suit states.

Over the course of the store's operation, the plaintiffs paid $80,000 for inventory and $90,000 to its employees, the complaint says.

However, the plaintiffs later discovered that the defendants failed to transfer their stock to the plaintiffs. In addition, after the plaintiffs began operating the store, the defendants sold it to a third party.

"As a proximate result of said breaches of contract by the defendants and each of them the plaintiffs suffered the following losses: loss of purchase price of $125,000, loss of mortgage payments of $81,000, loss of the inventory valued at $80,000, loss of the value of wages paid in the sum of $90,000," the suit states.

In addition to the money they say they are owed, the plaintiffs are seeking costs.

G. Edward Moorman of Alton will be representing them.

Madison County Circuit Court case number: 09-L-1079.