TV & VIDEO - Sept. 15, 1987

A federal judge in Chicago has ordered Ed McMahon to stand trial in a civil suit filed on behalf of more than 1,000 investors who claim they were bilked in a Florida land deal. McMahon was an officer and pitchman for Cavanagh Communities, developer of 26,000 acres in central Florida. The suit alleges that McMahon and the company misrepresented the actual value of the property and deceived investors into believing the land would appreciate. Investors paid approximately $5,000 each for the lots, some described by the investors’ attorney as being “literally underwater, (with) alligators climbing around.”