Jury Awards Lennar $1 Bln In Damages In Case Against Nicolas Marsch

(RTTNews) - Homebuilder Lennar Corp. (LEN, LEN.B) said Tuesday that a civil jury has awarded the company $1 billion in damages against California developer Nicolas Marsch III and his company, Briarwood Capital LLC, on court findings of defamation and conspiracy to extort money from the company.

The $1 billion jury award, which includes punitive damages, brings to an end seven years of litigation in which courts in California and Florida vindicated Lennar's positions and rejected Marsch's accusations.

The jury awarded damages following proceedings and findings by the trial court that Marsch was liable for conspiring with convicted felon Barry Minkow to engage in an unlawful scheme to extort money from Lennar. In 2011, Minkow returned to federal prison to serve a five-year term for his role in the same extortion and defamation scheme.

The jury delivered a verdict against Marsch and Briarwood of $802 million in compensatory damages as well as $200 million in punitive damages.

Despite receiving repeated notices from the court and Lennar, Marsch declined to appear at Monday's trial and testify before the jury.