Law360. By David Minsky. April 4, 2024
Two investors have urged a Florida state court to impose severe penalties on the managers of a hotel enterprise after WhatsApp text messages in a $15 million lawsuit were allegedly deleted intentionally, saying the communications were critical to proving that their equity interests were wrongly taken from them.
Jose Renteria and Juan Montes De Oca said Eleventh Judicial Circuit Judge Thomas Rebull should order sanctions over the deleted WhatsApp messages and other electronic communications showing how Eurocon LLC managers Orlando Padron and Henry Contreras conspired to steal the investors’ 25% interest in the company, according to a motion for spoliation sanctions filed Tuesday in Miami-Dade County.
“Once you reasonably anticipate litigation in Florida, you must preserve the relevant electronically stored information,” Stroman told Law360 on Thursday. “The defendants we know here did the opposite of that.”
