Webio Co-Founder Sued

Office space leasing company sues for $270,000

By STNG WIRE

Updated 11:06 AM CST, Sun, Jul 5, 2009

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Alleged Ponzi schemer David Hernandez was hit with a lawsuit this week, after he signed multiple contracts with an office space leasing company in Chicago but allegedly didn't hold up his end of the contract and now owes the company roughly $270,000.

Hernandez -- who was charged with allegedly bilking nearly $12 million from 100 investors in 12 states to fund his company, NextStep Financial Services, in a Ponzi scheme -- failed to notify Amata, LLC, the company that filed the suit against him in Cook County Circuit Court Thursday, of his company’s legal problems and failed to follow through with his end of the contract, according to the suit.

NextStep Financial Services had been "involuntarily dissolved" in May of 2003 -- four and a half years before Hernadez entered into office space and furniture rentals with Amata, owing them $265,510.61 in unpaid rent for his Downtown offices, the suit alleges.

The suit also accuses Hernadez of deceiving Amata about the financial state of his company, and failing to mention he was being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Hernandez, 48, of Downers Grove, who co-founded the now-defunct ChicagoSportsWebio.com, with popular broadcaster Mike North, showed up in court Monday after he was released from the hospital following an alleged drug-induced suicide attempt.

Hernandez allegedly used the Ponzi scheme money to pay himself, his family and furnish the start-up costs for the sports-talk Web site.

Several people -- including his wife -- have stepped up in recent days to publically distance themselves from Hernandez, described at one point as being "intelligent, articulate, clean-cut" and polite.