A federal court jury in San Antonio, Texas unanimously found for plaintiffs, Howard Lowry, Patrick Lowry and their company Tariq Al-Waffa, on all counts. After three and a half days of testimony and three and a half hours of deliberation, the jury awarded plaintiffs $61.75 million, finding that defendant Jankovic & Associates, Inc. breached its written contract with Tariq Al-Waffa, while defendants Oleg Jankovic and Jankovic & Associates, Inc. breached their oral contract with plaintiffs. The jury also found that defendants Mykola Karanko and Universal Investment Group, Inc. breached their oral contract with plaintiffs as well as tortiously interfered with Tariq Al-Waffa’s written contract with Jankovic & Associates, Inc.
As Jankovic & Associates, Inc.’s exclusive representative in Iraq, Tariq Al-Waffa used its extensive commercial experience in Iraq to facilitate the sale of military products and services by a Ukrainian state-owned corporation, Progress, to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. Following nine days of meetings, during mid-July, 2009, between Progress officials and Iraqi officials in Baghdad, Iraq, contracts for military products and services totaling $560.1 million were signed between Progress and the Iraqi Ministry of Defense in Kiev, Ukraine on August 20, 2009. Nine days prior to the signing of these contracts, Jankovic & Associates, Inc. illegally terminated its written contract with Tariq Al-Waffa, under which Tariq Al-Waffa was to receive a ten percent (10%) commission on the sale of these products and services. Furthermore, Jankovic & Associates, Inc.’s joint venture partner, Universal Investment Group, Inc., paid commissions to unrelated parties, with full knowledge that these payments violated the written contract between Tariq Al-Waffa and Jankovic & Associates, Inc. Additionally, defendants breached an oral contract with plaintiffs under which they were to pay plaintiffs $30,000 for expenses in hosting the Ukrainian delegation in Baghdad in July 2009.
David Prichard, on behalf of plaintiffs, led the trial team of Glenn MacTaggart, Shelayne Clemmer, and David Montpas to a successful jury verdict on all counts. Mr. Prichard has practiced law for more than 30 years, trying over 150 lawsuits to jury verdict all over the country.