Missing submarine owner was sued by Florida couple claiming he defrauded them with promise of Titanic trip

A Florida couple earlier this year filed a lawsuit against the owner of the company behind the submarine that is currently missing after making a trip to view the wreckage of the Titanic, The Daily Beast reports.

Marc and Sharon Hagle allege they paid OceanGate Expeditions $210,258 to view the shipwreck but were never able to take the deep-water journey by a promised 2018 date amid ongoing delays. They say their requests for a refund went unheeded.

The Hagles claim OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush knew the submersible wouldn’t be ready to conduct excursions that promise to take visitors 13,000 feet below the ocean’s surface southeast of Newfoundland, Canada, where the iconic ship’s wreckage sits.

Rush is among five people aboard the missing vessel.

The lawsuit, which was filed in February, alleges that Rush in 2017 visited the Hagles’ Winter Park, Florida home in an effort to convince them to overcome their trepidations about the excursion aboard a vessel that was called Cyclops 2 at the time. It is now called Titan.

“During their September 27, 2017 meeting, Rush made several false statements of material fact to Plaintiffs, including, without limitation: (a) regarding the status of development and testing of Cyclops 2 as of that date, (b) that Cyclops 2 would be ready to dive on the Titanic by June of 2018,” text of the lawsuit obtained by The Daily Beast says.

“(c) if plaintiffs had any questions or concerns as to the integrity of Cyclops 2 and/or the timing of the expedition if it were to be delayed, they could request, and would receive, a full refund of all monies paid with no questions asked, and (d) plaintiffs' deposits were, and any future payments by plaintiffs would be, held in a dedicated client escrow account separate from his or OceanGate's funds.”

Marc Hagle in a telephone interview with The Daily Beast, declined to address the circumstances surrounding the lawsuit.

“My thoughts go out to the owners of Oceangate, the people that are on the submersible, both the crew and the guests. And we're hoping for a miracle and that everybody comes home safely,” he said. “I think the pleadings speak for themselves.”

Read the full article here.