MORRISTOWN -- A Parsippany-based hedge fund and two of its principals received about $40 million in damages over a defamatory report in 2002 about the men and the company, the Daily Record reported.

An eight-person civil jury in Morris County awarded NuWave Investment Corp. and its principals Troy Buckner and John S. Ryan a total of $40,407,446 in "actual special damages" and "actual general damages" on Thursday in the company's case against BackTrack Reports, Inc., the newspaper reported.

The trial focused only on damages to NuWave, Buckner and Ryan, as BackTrack's liability for defamation had already been established at a previous trial in 2011, the newspaper reported.

Nuwave, Buckner and Ryan were awarded $2.85 million in that case, but those damages were later set aside, Law360 reported.

As previously reported by NJ Advance Media, BackTrack was found liable for its defamatory statements, but the state Appellate Division said a jury cannot award both presumed nominal damages and actual damages. The state Supreme Court, in May 2015, upheld the appellate court's ruling, saying presumed damages "is a procedural device that allows a defamation case to go to the jury in the absence of actual damages."

BackTrack Reports performs investigative and executive-level background probes on the financial industry and was retained by an investment company to compile a background report on NuWave, the Daily Record reported.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.