Edward H. Davis Jr. of Sequor Law in Miami landed a $22 million judgment for a South American finance company after the court found that Venezuelan businessman Luis Wolkowiez had wrongly taken money from it — allegedly to settle a debt a Miami resident owed him.

But Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Pedro P. Echarte didn't buy that explanation, branding Wolkowiez's actions civil theft.

The international fraud case arrived in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in April 2013, with All Factoring de Venezuela, a finance company that helps businesses with cash flow problems, reporting a monetary predicament of its own.