Lorna Margaret ‘Muffie’ Guthrie and Jeff Brandmaier of Knightwood Stables, LLC, of Arkell, ON, have received a judgment against Eric Lamaze and defendants totalling $1,390,189.44 in the case of a pair of unscrupulous horse deals.
According to the details of the lawsuit, Lamaze sold the jumper Nikka VD Bisschop, which was 50% owned by the plaintiffs, to the (Mark and Tara) Rein Family, failing to disclose the sale to Jeff and Muffie and wrongfully retaining their profit from the transaction of over $1.3 million. The judgment issued by the Palm Beach County circuit court in Florida includes principal in the amount of $1,325,534.21 and accrued interest totalling $64,655.23. The pair are also entitled to recoup their attorneys’ fees which, will be determined at a later date.
In another element of the lawsuit, they claimed that in 2020 Lamaze falsely inflated the purchase price when they invested in Newberry Balia NL. They believed they were getting 100% ownership but later learned their ownership was not registered with the FEI. The plaintiffs claimed an agreement was reached to find a buyer, but that the defendants failed to do so and the horse returned to the US with an injury.