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360 DigiTech, Inc. Securities Fraud Investigation
Investigation Deadline: December 1, 2023
August 29, 2025
News
Minnesota Attorney General Joins Whistleblower Lawsuit Against Monarch Investment and Management Group, LLC for Wrongfully Evicting Tenants
Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota Attorney General has joined Berger Montague, a leading national plaintiffs’ law firm, to represent two whistleblower tenants who are suing their prior landlord after they were wrongfully evicted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Monarch Investment and Management Group, LLC (“Monarch”) received over $259,000 from the State to protect tenants from eviction during COVID-19 pandemic through the RentHelpMN program. Monarch then wrongfully filed dozens of eviction actions against tenants whose rent had been covered by the program, including the two whistleblowers.
“This COVID housing fraud marginalized the most vulnerable,” said Shareholder John Albanese. “The State stepped in to protect those that were housing insecure, and these landlords took advantage of our clients as well as the taxpayers,” said Mr. Albanese.
The former tenants were evicted by Monarch, which owns and operates more than a dozen rental properties in Minnesota. The lawsuit alleges that the company violated the Minnesota False Claims Act (MFCA) by submitting $259,000 worth of false and fraudulent claims to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. The statute allows for treble damages of approximately $777,000, as well as civil claims and additional fees.
Berger Montague is working alongside the Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Co-Counsel Minnesota Housing Justice Center (MHJC) and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS) in this case against the Monarch Investment and Management Group, LLC and 17 of its affiliated companies.
RentHelpMN was created during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent evictions by paying rent and utility expenses for families struggling financially. It was administered by the Minnesota Housing Finance Authority and provided $428 million in assistance to 58,600 households across Minnesota during the course of the program.
Read more about the case in the Attorney General’s press release here and in this article by The Post Bulletin.
Berger Montague is one of the nation’s preeminent law firms focusing on complex civil litigation, class actions, and mass torts in federal and state courts throughout the United States. With more than $2.4 billion in 2025 post-trial judgments alone, the Firm is a leader in the fields of complex litigation, antitrust, consumer protection, defective products, environmental law, employment law, securities, and whistleblower cases, among many other practice areas. For over 55 years, Berger Montague has played leading roles in precedent-setting cases and has recovered over $50 billion for its clients and the classes they have represented. Berger Montague is headquartered in Philadelphia and has offices in Chicago; Malvern, PA; Minneapolis; San Diego; San Francisco; Toronto, Canada; Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, DE.
Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc., is a non-profit law firm which receives federal, state, local, public, and private funding to provide free legal help to low income and elderly people who reside in 33 counties of southern Minnesota, including the St. Paul metropolitan area. As Minnesota’s oldest legal aid program (founded in 1909), SMRLS has established a tradition of partnership with the private bar, a bi-partisan Legislature, the Minnesota Supreme Court and other Minnesota Legal Services Coalition programs in providing access to justice. SMRLS has an experienced, dynamic staff of 55 attorneys and 45 additional staff. Hundreds of volunteer attorneys help staff provide legal assistance to approximately 10,000 eligible persons each year.
Housing Justice Center is a Minnesota nonprofit public interest legal organization whose primary mission is to protect and expand affordable housing for low-income individuals and families. Through impact litigation, policy advocacy, organizing, research, and community education, HJC works to ensure that affordable housing is created and protected for those who need it.
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