UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA 

HAMMOND DIVISION

TAX CREDIT FUNDING LLC, )

Plaintiff, )

)

v. ) CAUSE NO.: 2:16-CV-163-JVB-JPK

)

MATTHEW MORAN, et al., )

Defendants. )

OPINION AND ORDER

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff’s Application for Default Judgment Against 

Defendant Matt Moran1 [DE 95], filed on December 18, 2019, by Plaintiff Tax Credit Funding 

LLC (TCF). The Court previously granted judgment as to liability in favor of TCF and against 

Moran. See (Order, ECF No. 65). The Court set the issue of the amount of damages for further 

briefing. See (Order, ECF No. 89). TCF filed the instant motion on the amount of damages.

BACKGROUND

The claims brought against Moran that are resolved as to liability but are now before the 

Court on the issue of damages are “Conversion and Misappropriation” (Count V), “Fraudulent 

Misrepresentation” (Count VI), “Fraud and Conspiracy” (Count VII), and “Conversion, 

Misappropriation and Conspiracy” (Count VIII). See (Second Am. Compl. 12-14, ECF No. 51); 

see also (Order at 2, ECF No. 65 (“With regard to its conversion, fraud, and conspiracy claims, 

the Court GRANTS judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant Matthew Moran as to 

liability.”)).

By declarations made under penalty of perjury, TFC has shown the following. Moran 

fraudulently misappropriated $3,000,000 in funds. (Paynter Decl. ¶¶ 7, 9, 11, 15, ECF No. 95-1).

1 There is another defendant in this litigation with the surname Moran, but for the purposes of this Opinion and Order, 

“Moran” refers to Defendant Matt Moran.
2

TFC expected to be paid a $500,000 fee for its services, but that money was used by TCF to pay 

investors instead. Id. at ¶ 16. Co-Defendant True to the Game Entertainment, LLC was obligated 

to pay interest, of which $1,710,114 remains unpaid. Id. at ¶ 17). TFC has incurred $214,879.50 

in legal fees, of which it has paid $5,000. (Williamson Decl. ¶ 7, ECF No. 95-2); (Glavin Decl.

¶ 7, ECF No. 95-3). TCF asks for an award of damages of $5,210,114, and an award of attorney 

fees of $209,879.50.

ANALYSIS

Indiana’s Crime Victim’s Relief Act (CVRA), codified at section 34-24-3-1 of the Indiana 

Code, allows a person who has suffered a pecuniary loss as a result of a violation of various crimes, 

including conversion, to bring a civil action for damages (including actual damages and a 

reasonable attorney’s fee) against the person who caused the loss. Ind. Code. § 34-24-3-1; see also 

Ind. Code. § 35-43-4-3 (criminal conversion). A person seeking to recover under the CVRA “must 

prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant committed a criminal act, although a 

conviction is not a condition precedent to recovery.” Coleman v. Coleman, 949 N.E.2d 860, 869 

(Ind. Ct. App. 2011) (citing Harco, Inc. of Indianapolis v. Plainfield Interstate Family Dining 

Assocs., 758 N.E.2d 931, 945 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001). “Although the Relief Act provides that crime 

victims may recover three times the amount of their actual damages (treble damages), the costs of 

the action, and reasonable attorney fees, the amount of any award is ultimately left to the discretion 

of the trial court.” Kishpaugh v. Odegard, 17 N.E.3d 363, 370 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014).

Conversion under Indiana law is the knowing or intentional exertion of unauthorized 

control over property of another person. Ind. Code § 35-43-4-3. TCF has shown, by a 

preponderance of the evidence, that Moran committed criminal conversion. (Second Am. Compl.

¶¶ 27, 58, ECF No. 51); (Paynter Decl. ¶¶ 9-11). “With respect to a conversion claim, damages are
3

restricted to actual losses sustained as a proximate result of the conversion.” SJS Refractory Co., 

LLC v. Empire Refractory Sales, Inc., 952 N.E.2d 758, 766 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011). TCF has also 

shown by a preponderance of the evidence that it suffered pecuniary losses as a result of Moran’s 

conversion.

TCF agreed to provide tax credit financing to True To The Game Entertainment, LLC 

(TTTGE), for whom Moran was an authorized agent. TCF was to transfer $3,000,000 to TTTGE’s 

escrow account in exchange for TTTGE’s anticipated film tax credits. TCF was also to receive a

$500,000 payment to cover its fees. TTTGE was to obtain a completion bond before accessing the 

fundsin the escrow account, and TCF was to be repaid out of tax creditsthat TTTGE would receive 

from Louisiana in connection with TTTGE’s production of a film entitled “True To The Game.” 

It was anticipated that the film would yield nearly $5,000,000 in film tax credits from Louisiana. 

Due to Moran’s unauthorized direction to transfer the $3,000,000 out of the escrow account, 

TTTGE failed to comply with the repayment terms of the agreement.

TCF seeks to recover the $3,000,000 that it loaned to TTTGE; its $500,000 fee that, though 

initially set aside for TCF, was used by TCF to pay amounts owed to investors; and $1,710,114 in 

outstanding interest that is owed to investors (which TCF would have paid the investors from the 

required accrued interest payments that TTTGE failed to make). This is a total of $5,210,114 in 

damages, and it is the amount that TCF requests in damages, not including attorney fees. These 

damages were proximately caused by Moran’s conversion of the $3,000,000. Moran directed the 

funds to be moved out of the account without the required completion bond, which would act as 

security that the film would be completed. Unsurprisingly, as a result, TTTGE did not timely repay 

TCF. Because TCF has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that Moran’s conversion caused 

these damages, the Court will grant the request for $5,210.114.
4

The requested award of attorney fees is a remedy available to TCF. The Court has reviewed 

the declarations of TCF’s counsel, John Williamson and Daniel Glavin. The bulk of the fee award 

is for attorney Williamson’s time, and he avers that he unilaterally capped his fee at $200,000, 

though his fee for work on this case as to Moran alone was over that cap when he set the limit.

Though the Court will grant the request for an award of reasonable attorney fees, the 

information necessary to determine the amount of reasonable attorney fees is not currently before 

the Court. The Court does not know the tasks performed, the hours devoted to each task, and by 

whom the work was performed, though the Court has been apprised of the hourly rates charged by 

counsel and Williamson’s agreement to cap his fee. Therefore, the Court will order TCF’s counsel 

to submit detailed billing for the Court’s review.

CONCLUSION

Based on the foregoing, the Court hereby GRANTS in part and TAKES UNDER 

ADVISEMENT in part Plaintiff’s Application for Default Judgment Against Defendant Matt 

Moran [DE 95]. The Court AWARDS judgment in favor of Plaintiff Tax Credit Funding LLC and 

against Defendant Matt Moran in the amount of $5,210,114.00 damages.

The Court also AWARDS in favor of Plaintiff Tax Credit Funding LLC and against Moran 

TCF’s reasonable attorney fees, but the Court takes the question of the amount of the fees under 

advisement and ORDERS TCF’s counsel, John Williamson and David Glavin, to submit detailed 

billing of attorney time in support of Plaintiff’s request for an award of reasonable attorney fees 

on or before January 31, 2020. The billing may be submitted in camera.

SO ORDERED on January 16, 2020.

s/ Joseph S. Van Bokkelen

JOSEPH S. VAN BOKKELEN, JUDGE 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT