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It isn?t exactly the great train robbery, but a Long Island
hedge fund manager?and apparent railroad enthusiast?says a
model builder ripped him off to the tune of $2 million.
Renaissance Technologies? Robert Mercer has sued RailDreams
Custom Model Railroad Design, which he says overcharged him
by $2 million. On Monday, Mercer filed notice that he would
seek summary judgment against the company and its
president, Richard Taylor, as they have failed to answer
the suit.
Mercer says he should have been charged $708,669 for the
model, which RailDreams? Taylor told the New York Daily
News was about the size of half a basketball court, and
depicts a specific location in New York. The lavish model
was installed in Mercer?s Mount Sinai, N.Y., mansion,
according to Taylor, in time for his daughter?s wedding.
The lawsuit accuses RailDreams and Taylor of ?wrongfully
and fraudulently? padding the bill, a charge the surprised
Taylor, who says he thought the two sides were moving
towards an out-of-court settlement, rejects. Taylor says
the cost of the project ballooned as work progressed and
Mercer imposed new specifications.
Not willing to leave it at that, Taylor offered a parting
shot at a man who would pay hundreds of thousands of
dollars for a toy.
?He is a hedge fund guy, part of the reason why the country
is in the situation it?s in,? he told the Daily News.