Notable litigation filed during October 2023 includes: California Land Acquisition and Development Inc. v. Eran Drori, et al. Additionally, cryptocurrency and the potential for fraud surrounding the increasingly popular industry were on display during the month of October with the trial and conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the cryptocurrency exchange company FTX.
Notable Litigation – April 2023
Notable litigation filed during April 2023 includes: (1) SEC v. French, et al., (2) Gary Kennedy v. Ghap, LLC, et al., (3) Abanda v. OurBloc LLC, et al., (4) Sunrise NPL, LLC v. Easy Financial, LLC, et al., and (5) Joseph v. General Conference Corporation of Seventh Day Adventist et al.
New Complaint – U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Giri, et al.
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Giri, et al., was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on August 11, 2022, claiming violations of several provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and Commission Regulations. Specifically, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) seeks permanent injunctive relief against all Defendants, disgorgement, rescission, and civil penalties.
The CFTC brought this action against Rathnakishore Giri (“Giri”), SR Private Equity, LLC (“SR Private Equity”), NBD Eidetic Capital, LLC (“NBD Eidetic”), Giri Subramani (“Subramani”), and Loka Pavani Giri (“Pavani Giri”) (collectively, “Defendants”) who are alleged to have engaged in a fraudulent scheme to trade digital assets—mainly bitcoin—on behalf of investors. Defendant Giri is a controlling person of both Defendants NBD Eidetic, an Ohio limited liability company, and SR Private Equity, an Ohio limited liability company. Defendants Subramani and Pavani Giri are the parents of Defendant Giri.
The complaint alleges that starting in or around March 2019, Defendant Giri solicited
Continue Reading… New Complaint – U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Giri, et al.
New Complaint – SEC v. Minuskin, et al.
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Minuskin, et al. was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California on April 8, 2022, claiming violations of several provisions of the Securities Act and Securities Exchange Act. Specifically, the SEC seeks permanent injunctive relief against all Defendants to prevent future violations of the federal securities laws, disgorgement of any ill-gotten gains, and civil penalties.
The SEC brought this action against Julie Minuskin (“Minuskin”), Dennis DiRicco (“DiRicco”), Thomas Casey (“Casey”), Golden Genesis, Inc. (“Golden Genesis”), and Joshua Stoll (“Stoll”) (collectively “Defendants”). According to the complaint, Defendant Minuskin created Retire Happy LLC (“Retire Happy”), a Nevada limited liability company, which specialized in self-directed IRAs and provided financial education on how to leverage retirement accounts and create passive income by promoting self-directed retirement accounts. Defendant DiRicco was the Chief Financial Officer and board member of Defendant Golden Genesis and the managing member of non-party Until Tomorrow LLC (“Until Tomorrow”). Defendant Casey is the majority owner, Chief Executive Officer, and board member of Defendant Golden Genesis. Defendant Stoll was an account specialist at Retire Happy.