OCEAN CITY, MD - A Worcester County Circuit Court Judge has dismissed a multi-million dollar fraud lawsuit against multiple former board members of Trimper family businesses in Ocean City.
Among the businesses named in the suit was Trimper’s Rides of Ocean City, one of America’s longest running family-owned carnivals.
The suit, filed in 2023 by company shareholders Antoinette Bruno, Wendy Delamater, and Joyce Trimper, accused Doug, Brooks, Christopher, Linda, and Stephanie Trimper, as well as their corporations, of causing substantial financial damages through fraud and conspiracy.
From at least 1995 to early 2020, the defendants “individually, and in concert with each other, have engaged in a continuous course of wrongful conduct designed to systematically misappropriate and/or waste the assets of the Corporations for their personal benefit,” the suit alleged.
The plaintiffs claimed the members of the Trimper family skimmed money from the formerly all-cash businesses, purchased personal vehicles with corporate funds, and used a “secret money room” above an arcade to facilitate cash skimming.
The shareholders ultimately accused the Trimpers of nine charges, including fraud, civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, breach of fiduciary duties. In their complaint, the plaintiffs asked the court for a total $245 million in compensation and punitive fees, plus interest and legal fees.
According to court records obtained by WBOC, Worcester County Circuit Court granted the Trimper defendants’ motion for sanctions against Plaintiff Joyce Trimper for her failure to appear for a deposition. That motion was granted, and Joyce Trimper was ordered to pay over $20,000 in court fees.
The defendants then filed a motion for summary judgment on January 24, citing a statute of limitations and plaintiffs’ failure to prove damages or provide evidence.
On January 29, 2025, a Worcester County Circuit Judge sided with the accused members of the Trimper family, according to court documents, and dismissed the case. An upcoming trial, scheduled for this month, has been officially cancelled.