Winery case to proceed

Las Vegas investors suing the director of an upmarket Nelson winery business will soon get their day in court.

The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court judge’s decision dismissing Mahana Estates director Glenn Schaeffer’s bid to end or delay the case on the grounds he feared violence from threats by one of the investors.

Schaeffer is being sued by former friends, Las Vegas entertainment executives James Murren and Daniel Lee, who invested in the Mahana business.

They are seeking to recover their investments – $1.6 million for Murren and $700,000 for Lee – alleging ‘‘negligent misstatement, deceit and fraudulent misrepresentation’’ by Schaeffer. A trial is scheduled for the High Court at Nelson this month.

Schaeffer asked for the case to be struck out because during a mediation hearing a year ago, he said, Lee had made threats against him.

Lee denied such a threat was made. He said he had told Schaeffer that if the dispute had happened in the ‘‘old days’’, he might have ‘‘ended up buried in the Nevada desert’’, but things were done differently now.

Schaeffer said his ability to defend the case was prejudiced because of the fears of violence.

In his appeal, he said the High Court should have further examined the impact of the threats and called witnesses to resolve the issue.

In its decision released last week, the Court of Appeal said Schaeffer was effectively attempting to adjourn the case. But it said his arguments failed on grounds including that Murren had made no threats, and no other witnesses were alleged to have been threatened.

Schaeffer had not laid a complaint with police, and had delayed unreasonably in bringing the stay application a year after the alleged threats.