Umpqua Bank PFI Class Action Lawsuit

The Plaintiffs argue that PFI ran a fraudulent scheme that used investor money to personally benefit PFI’s executives, pay other investors, and cover recurring shortages across its dozens of accounts at Umpqua. Additionally, the Plaintiffs allege that Umpqua Bank knew of the fraudulent scheme yet continued to provide banking services to PFI anyway.

After nearly five years of litigation, the case culminated in a four-week jury trial in February 2025. However, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision, and the court declared a mistrial on March 4, 2025. The parties agreed to the $55 million settlement shortly after that.

The lawsuit, filed in 2020, is a class action on behalf of over 1,200 PFI investors. On December 16, 2022, the Court ruled that the investors would be certified as a class and that the lawsuit may proceed to a jury trial. The Court’s decision cleared the way for the class of investors to pursue their legal claims against Umpqua Bank in a single trial. At trial, the class sought damages of up to $149.4 million and up to $218.7 million in prejudgment interest.

After the parties finalized the detailed settlement terms, the Plaintiffs submitted the agreement to the Court for preliminary approval on May 2, 2025. The Court will hold a hearing on preliminary approval by Zoom on May 22, 2025. If approved, then formal notice of the settlement will be sent to all class members, who will then have an opportunity to comment on the settlement before the Court holds a second hearing later this year.

All links lead to PDFs:

• Camenisch Complaint (Class Action Lawsuit)
  • Order Denying Summary Judgment & Granting Class Certification
  • Umpqua’s Combined Motion re Choice of Law, Partial Decertification, and Summary Judgment
  • Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Umpqua’s Combined Motion
  • Umpqua’s Reply re Combined Motion
  • Order Re Choice of Law & Prejudgment Interest Claim
  • Preliminary Approval Motion