Heidi’s Denies Trying to Bilk Former Suitor

An attorney for Heidi’s Frogen Yozurt denied that the Laguna Hills-based company tried to bilk its former suitor, Johnston Foods, out of $150,000 and said a lawsuit seeking the money has “no basis whatsoever.”

Johnston Foods filed the suit in Orange County Superior Court this week to recover $150,000 the company loaned to Heidi’s in September. It alleges that Heidi’s promised to buy Johnston’s yogurt as a deliberate “scam and fraud” to extract the $150,000 loan. Johnston never received Heidi’s orders for yogurt and the money has not yet been repaid.

Heidi’s attorney, Martin Foley, said the suit is without merit because the loan did not have to be repaid until September, 1989.

Foley said letters between Heidi’s and Johnston Foods refer to the loan agreement and will prove that Heidi’s and its owner, Heidi Miller, and executive Brian Pallas--also sued in the case--had no intent to defraud Johnston.

“There was never any indication they were not going to repay” the loan, Foley said.

Johnston Foods, a yogurt manufacturer owned by Button Industries of Los Alamitos, had reached an agreement in September to buy Heidi’s. By November, that deal had fallen apart.

Heidi’s has since signed an agreement to be acquired by New York-based Steve’s Homemade Ice Cream in a deal that is pending.