Filed March 21, 2018
As reflected by the Attorney General’s own authority below, a claim for equitable fraud requires “a breach of legal or equitable duty, trust, or confidence” or circumstances by which “undue and unconscientious advantage is taken of another”. Moore v. Crawford, 130 U.S. 122, 128 (1889); see also Del Vecchio v. Nassau Cty., 118 A.D.2d 615, 617-18 (2d Dep’t 1986); Roni LLC v. Arfa, 74 A.D.3d 442, 444-45 (1st Dep’t 2010). This breach of a special relationship or situation of “unconscientious advantage” was what animated a court’s intervention in equity.
Filed June 13, 2012
The courts, however, have consistently held that friendship alone cannot establish a fiduciary relationship or create a basis for reasonable reliance in a business transaction. E.g., Roni LLC v. Arfa, 77 A.D.3d 442, 444, 903 N.Y.S.2d 352, 355 (1st Dep't 2010)("Plaintiffs also allege that the promoter defendants 14 Case 1:11-cv-04416-LAK-GWG Document 45 Filed 06/13/12 Page 20 of 32 `play[ecl] upon the cultural identities and friendship' of the Israeli investors, but personal connections of that sort alone between parties to business transactions do not establish a fiduciary relationship."); Wilson v. Diocese of New York of Episcopal Church, No. 96 Civ. 2400, 1998 WL 82921, at *11 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 26, 1998)("` [F]riendship alone does not establish a confidential relationship.'")(quoting Johnston v. DeHaan, 37 A.D.2d 1028, 1029, 325 N.Y.S.2d 762, 764 (3d Dep't 1971));