Notably, Miscovich had been an investor in Motivation Inc., a marine salvage company that had famously found and recovered treasure from the wreck of a 17th-century Spanish Galleon, Nuestra Señora de Atocha, off of Key West.
This find further piqued Miscovich's interest in the marine salvage industry, with him later stating in court that “I started realizing that [for] most of these treasure-hunting companies, the real treasure was making money by taking it from their investors,” later adding, “I decided to do it on my own, and decided I could do it better.”[5] In addition to his investments, Miscovich ran a successful real estate business in his hometown of Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
[5] While in Key West in January 2010, Miscovich purchased a map for $500 and a shard of pottery from a man named Mark Cunningham (later revealed to have done work for him in Pennsylvania[5]).
At a location about a mile from the marked site Miscovich and Elchlepp found, among other relics, what they claimed to be hundreds of uncut emeralds scattered on the seabed.
Miscovich tracked down Cunningham and paid him $50,000 to forego any legal claim on the wreck, and hired a notary to watch the transaction.
[2] A New York investment group, Azalp, LLC, agreed to finance the salvage operation in return for equity in the emeralds.
In April 2012 the television program 60 Minutes produced a story about Miscovich titled The Trouble with Treasure, further increasing the notoriety of the wreck.
[4][2] Under U.S. federal law, discoverers of treasure were not able to claim their finds until ownership of the site was established, and as such Miscovich and JTR Enterprises were unable to sell the emeralds they recovered on the open market.
Several of Miscovich's friends, his landlord, and his legal counsel all agreed to be partially paid with percentages of expected profits from the emeralds.
In August 2011 Miscovich and a friend approached David Horan, JTR's admiralty lawyer, with a collection of English, Danish, and French coins, asking if these could be used to disqualify the Spanish from a claim to the wreck.
[7] In late 2011, a dispute broke out among the investors in JTR after Miscovich demanded greater personal control over the emeralds, which were supposed to be stored in a New York bank.
These significant developments, coupled with the strong opinions of expert wreck hunters from Key West, resulted in many investors pulling out of JTR Enterprises.
[3] Following these revelations, Motivation, Inc. and Azalp, LLC filed suit against JTR Enterprises and Young Conaway, claiming that both entities had committed fraud against investors by withholding information that would have revealed the emeralds to be fake.
Particular focus was put on Young Conaway attorney Bruce Silverstein, who had reportedly paid some of Miscovich's personal expenses and was entitled to 1.5% of the emerald's equity.