Editor’s note: this story has been updated to include comment from Brandon Dallmann’s attorney.
LINCOLN — A business associate of Aaron Marshbanks is being sued to surrender cryptocurrency “keys” to unlock investments alleged to be affiliated with the biggest case of bank fraud in state history.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by an attorney representing the estate of Marshbanks, a Lincoln businessman who took his own life in November 2022. His death set off a flurry of claims by banks and savings and loans that he had fraudulently obtained more than $40 million in loans from them, a case first reported by the Examiner.
Brandon Dallmann, according to a lawsuit, was engaged by Marshbanks to invest in cryptocurrency and advise him on other business dealings.
Refused request to surrender keys
But Dallmann has refused requests to surrender cryptocurrency keys given to him by Marshbanks before his death, according to Ed Hotz, the personal representative assigned to assemble Marshbanks’ assets to pay off the bank loans.
The keys are a string of randomly generated numbers that act as a secret password to open crypto accounts — accounts that should be the property of the Marshbanks estate, the lawsuit alleges.
“Dallmann abused this access and breached the implied contract between the parties by taking cryptocurrency for himself,” the lawsuit claims. “Dallmann has received money and valuables which are not his.”
Dallmann also refused to provide an accounting in December of what’s in those accounts, the lawsuit said.
Attempts to reach Dallmann or his Omaha attorney Thursday night were unsuccessful.
But on Friday afternoon, Nicole Jilek, who represents Dallmann, said her client denies the allegations in the lawsuit and plans a “vigorous defense.”
“We look forward to presenting the truth in court,” Jilek said.
Dallmann had sought assets
The lawsuit, filed in Lancaster County District Court, asks a judge to order Dallmann to provide the keys, provide an accounting of any Marshbanks assets he holds and pay damages and attorney fees of the estate.
In May, Dallmann appeared in court as part of his request to file a late claim against the Marshbanks estate. He testified that he’d given Marshbanks $2 million in cryptocurrency to invest in rental properties, which was Marshbanks’ main business.
The request was later denied because Dallmann had missed the deadline to file such claims.
“I didn’t feel that it would be worth filing,” he said, because he assumed the estate had no money.
Dallmann had been engaged in several limited liability companies formed by Marshbanks, part of an “intricate web” of LLCs formed by Marshbanks, officials said, to purchase and rehabilitate dozens of rental properties in Omaha, Lincoln, Council Bluffs, Wyoming and Louisiana.
Tuesday’s lawsuit said that just hours prior to his death, Marshbanks emailed Dallmann, identifying him as being responsible for all “Crypto and Related Investments” of Marshbanks and telling him to keep them “rolling” on behalf of his wife.
‘Aaron is dead’ plan
The plan was labeled “AARON IS DEAD, JENN IS ALIVE PLAN” a reference to Marshbanks’ wife.
The November 2022 plan also linked to a separate document called “Investments Summary,” but that separate document has since been deleted, the lawsuit said.
Marshbanks, a real estate investor, was a star athlete and later a school board member at Lincoln Christian High School.
The FBI and the Nebraska Department of Banking have been involved in investigating the case. They have alleged that Marshbanks and his financial adviser, Jesse Hill, provided fabricated financial statements to banks, savings and loans and credit unions that showed, falsely, that Marshbanks had plenty of collateral for loans.
But, according to investigators, Marshbanks suffered deep financial losses from investments in 2022. That was also a devastating year for investments in cryptocurrency, with some accounts losing up to 75% of their value.
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