A lawsuit against a Federal Way attorney and business owner, alleging she was involved in a scheme to “bilk” nearly $20 million, has been dismissed.
On Nov. 22, King County Superior Court Judge Cindi Port granted the motion to dismiss with prejudice — meaning the case is permanently dismissed and cannot be retried — the lawsuit against Shawn Harju, a Federal Way attorney with Chrysalis Solutions who owns Three Trees Yoga in Federal Way and serves as chair of the Federal Way Chamber of Commerce board of directors. The complaint sought $19,954,515.07 in damages against Harju and the company for which she worked as an escrow agent, Equinox Business Law Group, based in Bellevue.
Harju’s motion to dismiss stated that Highmore Financing Company, which alleged she facilitated fraudulent disbursements of funds, was never a signee to any of the escrow agreements. Thus, Harju, working under Equinox Business Law Group as the escrow agent for the transactions, did not owe a fiduciary duty to Highmore, according to the motion to dismiss. Additionally, her motion to dismiss stated that the claims against Harju and Equinox from Highmore were a breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, negligent and or intentional misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, and civil conspiracy, which Harju said were all invalid.
The judge asked the plaintiff, Highmore, and defendants Harju and Equinox to send in supplemental briefs arguing their case. Judge Port, having reviewed and considered all briefings, including all supplemental briefings requested by the court, oral argument, and the files submitted to the court, granted Harju’s motion to dismiss.
Harju was accused by Highmore Financing Company of receiving $114,000 via self-dealing as an escrow agent through false invoices and facilitating fraudulent payments that added up to about $20 million in losses. Highmore filed the complaint for damages in June in King County Superior Court.
The plaintiff’s lawsuit alleged that Harju was brought into this agreement when she entered into the first of five escrow agreements as the escrow agent on behalf of Equinox to disburse the funds lent to The Greig Companies Inc. from Highmore. The first escrow agreement was on Sept. 20, 2019, and the last was on Jan. 30, 2020. The Greig Companies allegedly defaulted on payments and still had not repaid Highmore when the lawsuit was filed.
The lawsuit said Harju received instructions that contravened all five of the escrow agreements, and that Harju and Equinox knowingly or recklessly perpetuated the fraud against Highmore. Highmore alleges that The Greig Companies used the funds given to them for equipment to repay Highmore to create the sense that they were credit-worthy and entitled to an increase in their credit line. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges they did this to execute a Ponzi-like scheme in which Highmore’s funds had been misappropriated.
