SEATTLE - In the days since KING 5 News broke the story about Eastside investment guru Rhonda Breard, teams of lawyers have been racing to file suit to try to get the money back.
The first civil action again Breard outlines new specifics about her alleged scheme in which she is accused of funneling millions of dollars from her clients to pay for homes, cars, RV's and snowmobiles.
The suit claims that investment giant ING Financial Partners should have better supervised Breard and caught the alleged fraud before millions went missing.
Rhonda Breard made a big name for herself on local cable TV and radio. She parlayed the exposure into a long list of clients who put their trust in her.
Breard hasn't said anything since all this has been exposed and she has hired a high-powered law firm to represent her.
Breard, who allegedly has been altering accounts for three years, remains under criminal investigation and faces a slew of other civil suits.
There is a second person named in the lawsuit - Colleeen Brown, a person who worked in Breard's office and who allegedly sent out falsified monthly financial statements - part of the reason why so many clients didn't have a clue their investments were gone.
Update: Brown was dropped from the lawsuit on April 1, 2010. The lawyers who filed the case told the court that upon further investigation, Brown should be dismissed."
