Santa Fe Springs British Motor Parts

Tom owns an auto supply store in Santa Fe Springs; it is very specialized and carries only parts for old British cars like MGs and Triumphs. Tom inherited the store from his father 10 years ago. Greg, Tom's life-long best friend, had worked for Tom's father and continued to work at the store after Tom took over.

Tom spent most of his time in sales and acquiring old parts and did not come into the store very often. Tom put a lot of trust in Greg, who ran the day-to day aspects of the business. Greg did all of the books, had the right to sign company checks, and was there every day to see the customers.

Greg told Tom he wanted to become a part owner of the business. Tom told Greg that he the store had recently been appraised for over $1,000,000, and had inventory worth more than $250,000. Tom told Greg he could become a 1/3 owner by paying him $125,000, payable over 5 years without interest. Greg told Tom he would think about it and get back to him.

Greg went on 10-day cruise, and while he was gone Tom worked every day at the store. Tom had not looked at the banking records for a couple of years and decided to go through the bank statements. To his horror Tom discovered that Greg had been bouncing checks and the bank was threatening to close the account. In addition, some suppliers had started to ship parts on a COD (cash on delivery) basis.

Tom decided to hire an investigator to see what was going on. The investigator reviewed security tapes and cash register records and discovered that Greg had been taking cash out of the register. The investigator discovered that Greg had been taking parts from the store and started a business selling auto parts at local swap meets.

Please answer the following three (3) questions:

(1)Can Tom sue Greg in tort for his actions? If so, what torts do you think he committed? (Limit yourself to the torts described in the textbook). In answering the question, (a) list the elements of each tort that you think Greg committed, and (b) why you think that Greg's acts fit the definition of the tort.

(2)Can Greg be criminally prosecuted for his actions? If so, what crimes do you think he committed? (Limit yourself to the crimes described in the textbook). In answering the question, (a) list the elements of each crime that you think Greg committed, and why you think that his acts fit the definition of the crime.

(3)Explain the differences in the procedures that take place in (1) a civil lawsuit filed by Tom against Greg to recover damages for Greg's conduct, and (2) a criminal prosecution of Greg for the same conduct.