Payments
ATM network investors sue investment company
August 27, 2024
Investors in an ATM network owned by Heller Capital Group, the parent company of Prestige and Paramount, are suing the company to gain control of the network. The lawsuit alleges that Heller failed to pay more than $65 million in fees since April 2024, according to a report by Lancaster Online.
An investor testified in court in Lancaster County, Philadelphia that the suit sought control of the network to prevent, "immediate and irreparable harm of the ruination of the entire value of their present ATM businesses and, at a bare minimum, the loss of business opportunities."
Jerry Hostetter, an investor and president of Prestige Investment Group, said he chose to terminate the management agreement with Paramount after discussions with Daryl Heller, head of Heller Capital Group. He admitted he did not have the authority the file the suit, but he felt he had to act to protect the 2,700 investors and 25 funds.
Kleinbard LLC is representing the funds, but it declined to state who is paying for its services and Hostetter himself said he didn't know who was paying for the lawyers.
"A better question would be, 'Who is paying for Heller's representation and is it coming from money that was supposed to be going to the funds?'" Matt Haverstick, attorney at Kleinbard, said in the report.
There are 25,000 ATMs in the network. Heller said in testimony that although he did not have $65 million for the fees, he also said capital was being invested to upgrade the ATMs, including security features.
At the time of the writing of this story, Paramount has not responded to a request for input from ATM Marketplace.
