The ongoing and complicated dispute involving Shi Shailendra and investors in his various real estate deals got some resolution Wednesday when an arbitrator ordered the prominent developer to pay the participants in one of the projects more than $3 million, including $250,000 in punitive damages.
Shailendra, an influential and politically connected figure, was born in India and came to the U.S. where he attended Georgia Tech and eventually laid out plans for a grand real estate empire that would make a fortune for those who participated. However, investors wound up accusing him of taking money intended for real estate projects for his own personal use, leading to a series of lawsuits.
The case decided by the arbitrator involved Shi Investments One and its half-dozen other investors. Shailendra and investors agreed to send the matter to arbitration instead of pursuing a trial.
Attorney John Christy, who represented Shi Investments One against Shailendra in the case, said, "I think the arbitrator [C. Edward Dobbs] got it right. [The decision] was consistent with the evidence. It was everything we asked for."
James Johnson, the attorney for Shailendra, said: “This is the just the first among many battles. In the end, the cases will show Shi was not defrauding investors.”
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