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Loans Payable
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2013
Loans Payable [Abstract]  
Loans Payable

Note 12. Loans Payable

 

Loans payable at June 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012 are summarized as follows:

 

    June     December  
    30, 2013     31, 2012  
Installment loan payable due December 24, 2006, secured by personal guarantees of two shareholders, a former director, and a third party   $ 320,280     $ 320,491  
Installment loan payable, bank, monthly principal and interest payments of $2,798 including interest at bank's prime rate plus 1.5% per annum, 8.25% at November 30, 2008, due December 24, 2011, secured by personal guarantees of three shareholders and a former director     254,633       254,800  
Installment loan payable, bank, monthly principal and interest payments of $1,729 including interest at bank's prime rate plus 1.5% per annum, 8.25% at November 24, 2008, due June 28, 2009, secured by personal guarantees of three shareholders and a former director     103,872       103,940  
Term loan payable, bank, monthly payments of interest at bank's prime rate, 7.0% at December 31, 2007     283,633       283,820  
Total   $ 962,418     $ 963,051  

 

In December 2009, Chong Hing Bank Limited, formerly known as Liu Chong Hing Bank Limited, a foreign banking services company based in Hong Kong (Bank), commenced a lawsuit in the California Orange County Superior Court called Chong Hing Bank Limited v. Elephant Talk Communications, Inc., Case No. 30-2009-00328467.

 

The Bank alleged that it entered into various installment and term loan agreements and an overdraft account with Elephant Talk Limited (ETL), a wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary of the Company. Various former officers and directors of ETL personally guaranteed the loans and overdraft account.

 

The Bank alleged that ETL was in default on the loans and overdraft account, and that approximately $1,933,308 including interest and default interest was due. The Bank alleged that the Company was directly liable to repay the loans and overdraft account as a successor in interest to ETL or because the Company expressly or impliedly assumed direct liability for the loans and overdraft account. The Company denied the Bank's allegations and asserted several affirmative defenses. The Company contended that it had no direct liability to the Bank, and that the Bank must pursue its recourse against ETL and its personal guarantors.

 

The Bank and the Company tried the case in the court without a jury between October, 5 and 12, 2011. The court found, among other things, that

 

  · The Company was not liable as a successor in interest or otherwise on the Bank loans and overdraft account to ETL;
  · The Company was not liable on the Bank's claims because the Bank filed its action after the applicable California 4-year statute of limitations had expired; and
  · The Company was not liable to the Bank under the alternative theories of negligent or intentional misrepresentation.

 

The court entered judgment in favor of Elephant Talk Communications Corp. and against the Bank on December 14, 2011, and awarded the Company $5,925 in costs. The judgment became final on February 16, 2012. We continue to accrue for these loans since our subsidiary ETL in Hong Kong, alleged by the Bank as the contractual party, may be still held liable for these loans.