A real estate investor who assumed an enforceable arbitration clause would compel a trial court to dismiss fraud claims against him got some bad news when a state appellate court ruled in the plaintiffs' favor.

Federico Gomez, head of Wellington-based American Land Investments & Development LLC, came out on the losing side of his dispute with S & I Properties LLC and Jenesco Partners LLC over a nearly $9.43 million real estate deal.

“In sum, Gomez made two faulty assumptions about the trial court's dismissal order. Gomez first assumed the arbitration clause was self-effectuating. It was not,” Judge Robert Luck wrote for the Third District Court of Appeal. “Gomez's second assumption was that the trial court must dismiss the complaint where there was an enforceable arbitration clause. This, too, was incorrect.”