A Venezuelan investor won his case against a Miami company he claimed duped him into bankrolling a land purchase for a joint real estate development only to lose control of the property to his partner next door.

A Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury awarded Freddy Fernandez $84,000 in damages and a constructive trust, which grants him control of the disputed 17,253-square-foot property at 4700 NW 72nd Ave. valued at $517,000. Judge Barbara Areces signed the disposition memorandum.

Fernandez claimed in court filings that he and B&W Heavy Equipment Inc. owner William Delgado struck a deal where Fernandez's Orfeka Group LLC paid $250,000 in 2014 for the industrial site and  his neighbor Delgado was to oversee construction of seven warehouses — three for Fernandez, three for B&W and one jointly owned.

But Fernandez claimed Delgado didn't hold up his end of the bargain. Instead, B&W knocked down a fence separating the land from B&W's 40,246-square-foot property, expanded onto Fernandez's property and blocked him from entering, according to the lawsuit.

The deed for the investment property between Miami International Airport and the Palmetto Expressway lists both Orfeka and B&W as the buyers, according to county and court records.

“My client voluntarily included the defendant at the moment of the closing in the deed,” said Eduardo Maura, Fernandez's attorney. “My client did it voluntary because he was promised something that turned out to be a lie and a misrepresentation, just something to induce him to pay for the land.”

Maura of Ayala Law in Miami said damages amounts to the rental value for the time B&W occupied the property. Fernandez preferred to be awarded control of the property and sell it rather than extend legal proceedings with a foreclosure case.

B&W and Delgado's attorney Jose Ruben Bejel disagreed with the verdict and said an appeal is likely.

“I think the court erred legally by allowing certain jury instructions and jury verdict form,” said Ruben Bejel, of the Law Offices of Jose Ruben Bejel in Miami. 

in a response to the lawsuit and a counterclaim filed against Orfeka, B&W denied the fraud allegations, and said Delgado and Fernandez each paid half of the purchase price with their money first deposited into Fernandez's bank account.

B&W, which buys equipment at auction, repairs and sells it, sought a partition to force the sale of the property and a division of the proceeds between Delgado and Fernandez.

Orfeka sued in 2016, naming B&W, Delgado and Corina Garcia, Delgado's wife as defendants. A 2017 amended complaint was filed by Fernandez and Orfeka. Fernandez dismissed all claims against Garcia in February following a confidential settlement, according to Maura. She has denied having an ownership stake in B&W. A 2017 court filing denied the other allegations against her and argued in part that Fernandez and Orfeka first broke their end of the deal.

The jury sided with Fernandez on his unjust enrichment, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation, and deceptive and unfair trade practice claims.