Mike Getlin, the former chief executive of defunct Santa Monica precious metals broker Merit Gold, blames the city of Santa Monica for tarnishing his reputation and smearing his business. But Getlin said the city isn’t directly responsible for taking down the company. Google Inc. is.
The city of Santa Monica filed a lawsuit against Merit in February, accusing the company of running a bait-and-switch scam that pushed customers to buy overpriced coins.
Since then, the company shut down and a local judge put a temporary freeze on the assets of Getlin and his partner, Peter Epstein, saying in court that the company was “permeated with fraud.” (The Business Journal took a look at the Merit saga in the Sept. 29 issue. Getlin did not respond to requests to comment for that article, saying he was told not to by his then-lawyers, whom he’s since fired. He is now represented by Greenberg Glusker in Century City.)
When the city’s lawsuit was filed, Getlin said he and Epstein were shocked, but believed they had the facts on their side and began building their case. However, everything changed in July, when Mountain View’s Google took down Merit’s Internet ads. Getlin thinks that was due to the negative publicity stemming from the allegations.
“Out of the blue, we got an email from Google saying that they were shutting down our entire online ad effort,” he said. “And that just drove us out of business.”
Getlin got his start at Santa Monica’s largest precious metals dealer, Goldline International, which was accused of a similar scam and settled with the city in 2012. He said the two companies’ business practices are not comparable and that the city is engaged in a witch hunt against precious metals companies – a claim city officials deny.
“The city inherently believes there’s something wrong with selling gold and coins as an investment,” Getlin said. “In my opinion, it’s pretty clear they’re trying to systematically wipe out the industry.”
He remains confident he’ll triumph in court when the case goes to trial early next year. But that isn’t enough to save Merit.
“The damage has already been done,” he said.
Chicago Attention
Chicago business and tech consulting firm West Monroe Partners just named Kevin McCarty its chief executive, replacing co-founder Dean Fischer. And among McCarty’s first orders of business: making a bigger bet on Los Angeles.
McCarty said his goal is to expand the firm’s downtown L.A. office, which opened in January and has seven employees. McCarty wants to build it up to 100 employees over the next 18 to 24 months. He said to stay on top of trends in the tech industry and provide the highest level of service to its clients, West Monroe needs a bigger presence in the city.
“It’s been long overdue for us to make this kind of push in L.A.,” McCarty said. “We have many clients here. We want to do in-market work with in-market clients on their premises.”
One way that McCarty, 42, wants to build his L.A. team is through acquisitions. He said he’s looking at “inorganic growth” as a way to accelerate that process and he’s been on the lookout for potential targets.
Home Team
Park Lane, a Century City investment bank focusing on the sports industry, hired former Citigroup director Rick Perna earlier this month. And Perna is already quarterbacking deals.
He was recently in Italy leading the purchase of Series A soccer team Bologna Football Club 1909 by a group fronted by New York attorney Joe Tacopino and Joey Saputo, who owns Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact. As part of the deal, Park Lane will acquire an equity stake in the team.
Seat at Table
Brentwood Associates, L.A.’s oldest private equity firm, announced Oct. 14 that it had acquired a majority stake in Gardena home-goods seller Z Gallerie.
The decision to invest in Z Gallerie, a 35-year-old company that designs and sources proprietary home furnishings and accessories, dovetailed with Brentwood’s philosophy of targeting consumer-facing brands with loyal followings.
C-Suite News
Chicago accounting firm BDO USA named Kashif Hussain audit leader for its L.A. private equity practice. Hussain will remain the leader of the firm’s media and entertainment practice, working out of BDO’s Century City office. … Elizabeth “Ellia” Thompson has joined Century City law firm Sklar Kirsh to head its new land-use practice. She was formerly with CA Land Use Professionals.
Staff reporter Matt Pressberg can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 230.
