Koester v. American Republic Investments, Inc.

LOKEN, Circuit Judge.

This diversity case arose from the ashes of an all too common financial disaster. Plaintiffs are St. Louis professionals who invested some $9,000,000 in real estate limited partnerships in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, primarily for tax sheltering purposes. In hindsight, the properties were wildly overpriced. The projects were eventually sold or foreclosed, leaving plaintiffs with large investment losses. They sued the general partners and insiders for breach of their fiduciary duties. Two of those insiders, defendants G. Charles Cole and Sherman Ma-zur, appeal jury…