RamiroAviles v. S&P Global, Inc.
| Decision Date | 28 March 2019 |
| Docket Number | 17-CV-2987 (JPO),17-CV-7034 (JPO),18-CV-128 (JPO),17-CV-6087 (JPO),18-CV-2416 (JPO) |
| Citation | 380 F.Supp.3d 221 |
| Parties | Luis RAMIRO AVILES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. S & P GLOBAL, INC., et al., Defendants. Fernando Raul Benedetto, et al., Plaintiffs, v. ATC Realty Fifteen, Inc., et al., Defendants. Horacio Nestor Acebedo, et al., Plaintiffs, v. ATC Realty Fifteen, Inc., et al., Defendants. Frederico Alvarez, et al., Plaintiffs, v. ATC Realty Fifteen, Inc., et al., Defendants. Hector Jorge Areco, et al., Plaintiffs, v. ATC Realty Fifteen, Inc., et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Charles S. Siegel, Paul Lawrence, Wm., II, Waters & Kraus, LLP, Dallas, TX, Diane M. Paolicelli, William Hynes Mack, Phillips & Paolicelli, LLP, Victoria Elizabeth Phillips, District Attorney, New York County, New York, NY, Test Attorney Account 3, for Plaintiff Luis Ramiro Aviles.
Charles S. Siegel, Paul Lawrence, Wm., II, Waters & Kraus, LLP, Dallas, TX, Diane M. Paolicelli, William Hynes Mack, Phillips & Paolicelli, LLP, Victoria Elizabeth Phillips, District Attorney, New York County, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs Hector Ruben Bircz, Ricardo Osvaldo Bluthgen, Jose Maria Cabrera, Gustavo Canil, Hugo Leonardo Carlini, Pablo Codevilla, Matias Luis Coll, Maria Teresa Del Carmen Correa Avila, Jorge Daniel Diz, Cristian Horacio Ernst, Carlos Adrian Ferreti, Jorge Alberto Forlano, Fundacion Fiorenzo, Sebastian Gil Gilgarro, Luis Miguel Girardotti, Francisco Javier Gomez Ronco, Jose Antonio Gonzalez, Maria Elena Gonzalez, Fernando Enrique Granda, Tomas Victoriano Herrero, Monica Huisman, KP Ventures S.A., Graciela Stella Maris Magliano, Maria Beatriz Marquinez, Alberto Martinez, Fernando Matarazzo, Rafael Mendoza de la Torre, Mariano Jorge Miranda, Martin Miranda, Carlos Gabriel Miyagi, Silvana Montefiore, Jose Luis Patrignani, Enrique Horacio Picado, Lucilla Elena Paillard Polero, Pablo Gabriel Potokski, Victor Roberto Poggi, Prenton Industry Ltd, Diego Luis Rios, Norberto Vicente Rodriguez, Gonzalo Sanchez Puppulo, Graciela Silva Siguenza, Ulan Bator Project Ltd, Juan Antonio Virag, Carlos Alberto Wehbi.
Diane M. Paolicelli, William Hynes Mack, Phillips & Paolicelli, LLP, Victoria Elizabeth Phillips, District Attorney, New York County, New York, NY, for Plaintiffs Daniel Alberto Aramburu, Miguel Barton, Alberto Armoni, Juan Carlos Affif, Diana Irene Alvarez, Roberto Teobaldo Biagioni, Sonia Benvenuto, Josue Maximiliano Bauerberg, Miguel Carlos Blanco, Eduardo Dario Avruj, Alicia Bonastro, Maria Cecilia Brigante, Elizabeth Boote, Diego Rodolfo Angelo Pape, Lucila Atucha, Hugo Omar Barca, Jalid Alberto Del Azar, Santos Di Giambattista, Pablo Caride, Mariano Pablo Caillot Bois, Juan Martin De la Serna, Carlos Alberto Brignone, Diego Cuesta Silva, Conaiss Holding S.A., Guillermo Castillo, Roxana Catalano, Miguel Angel Calgaro, Gerardo Collardin, Marta Graciela Cecati, DAniel Oscar De Giorgio, Eduardo Escudero, Vanina Laura Coluccio, Gabriel Alejandro Del Campo, Jorge Alfredo Elias, Don Satur, Srl, Benjamin Alberto Bystrowicz, Guido Emilio Degano, Manuel Cuesta Silva, Distribuidora De Productos Quimicos S.A., Gabriel Manuel Fernandez, Tomas Del Carril, Ferdenas Holding LTD., Martin Rodolfo Castro, Susana Carmen Carniglia, Gabriel Erkekdjian, Maria Alicia Delfa Craviotto, Oscar Alberto Frei, Claudio Doller, Miguel Fernandez Moores, Giselle Erkekdjian, Fafal Corp., Eugenia Agustina Cerda, Rodolfo Centeno, Caja Municipal De Jubilaciones Y. Pensiones De Nogoya, Juan Horacio Busanello, Guillermo Jose Campos, Horacio Daniel HOLCMAN, Victor Miguel Jamui, Juan Jesus Gil Juncal, Sergio Lucero, Raul Alberto Genchi, Fernando R. Freixas Pintos, Magdalena Guzman, Carlos Gurmendi, Carlos Alberto Gimenez Huttorn, Daniel Gomez Cusco, Maria Paola Geranio, Jorge Goyes, Jose Elias Gondolo, Enrique Matias Hayzus, Alberto Lamm, Tomas Guiraldes, Cristian Iturralde, Alejandro Saul Kordon, Ricardo Manuel Gutierrez, Blanca Beatrice Maria Kinbaum, Fernando Antonio Garabato, Luciano Herrera Grazioli, Marta Alicia Happar, Carlos Alberto Nicolas Johanson, Frontosa Limited, Walter Alfredo Jakob, Natalia LOYATO, Diego Salvadore Di Maggio, Mario Luis Gimenez, Moises Luis Kotler, Hortensia Dominga Teresa Gutierrez Posse, Luis Felipe Lopez Blanco, Fraida Kahan, Elsa Beatrice Ledesma, Edgardo Alfredo LOMBI, Alehandro Jose Laborde, Martin Juan LANG, Hector Jorge Gonzalez, Jose Luis Gonzalez, Ricardo Luis Gentile, Monica Gallegos, Mauro Giacometti, Edmundo Humberto Kindsvater, Diana Materia, Roberto Jose Materia, Jose Julio Mansilla Lami, Aldo Antonio Materia, Ana Cecilia Materia, Melburne S.A., Maria Rosa Irma Materia, Julio Ariel Martinez, Domingo Mazzitelli, Estaban Alberto MATERIA, Romulo Bernadino Mena, Adrian Roberto Materia, Elena Celina Rosa Marun, Gustavo Materia, Raquel Iris Robustelli, Olga Ines Muro de Nadal, Enrique Horacio Mirkin, Ramon Enrique Requesens PAZ, Carlos A. Menendez, Cecelia Elsa Pizzini, Silvana Perez, Enrique Gualterio Negus, Carlos Alfredo Oliva, Jorge A. Moyana, Roque Manuel Oliver, Paula Radizzani Helguera, Guillermo Ariel Pereyra, Maria Cristina Rodriguez, Pablo Leonardo Sacco, Domingo Pittaluga, Daniela Iris Rossen, Maria Victoria Miranda, Juan Enrique Roberts, Alberto M. Pomato, Maria Lucila Rodriguea Carniglia, Matias Rodolfo Meyer, Alfredo Gregorio Rodriguez, Maria Elba Oleaga, Narja Investments Corp., Juan Carlos SACCO, Gustavo Pittalugu, Bernardo Romeo, Marco Alberto Panettieri, Enrique Hector Pagliettini, Sergio Roman Morgenstern, Rodrigo Hernan Meyer, Maria Concepcion Teresa Muller, Francisco Alberto Ruete, Juan Carlos Soldano, Nora San Juan, Martin Saenz Valiente, Eduardo Tuzzio, Alfredo Eduardo Terzano, Claudio Steudle, Guillermo Schleicher, Jose Tedesco, Marcelo Alejandro Sugier, Fabricio Terzano, Ernesto Miguel Torre, Haisan Samman, Juan Sebastian Salaber, Liliana Noemi Stellato, GracielaSiguenza, Salvador Toscano, Tafina Establishment, Ricardo Szily, Miguel Sanchez De Bustamante, Maria Elisa Salerno, Javier Jorge Oscar Silva, Jose Luis Villanueva Ahumada, Gustavo Alberto Urrutia, Enrique ZANIN, Pedro Vigneau, Ana Ines Wilson, Monica Urresti, Elsa Maria Elvira Zarlenga, Ulises Daniel Varela Damboriana, Ruben Angel Valsagna, Juana Monica Wehmeyer, Hugo Alberto Untersander, Leonardo Rodriguez, Lucila Elena Paillard Polero, Susana Ines Herrera, Marcelo De Leo, Felix Luis LEBORGNE, Manuel Juan Herrera Grazioli, Marcelo Hernan Loffreda, Maria Lucila Rodriguez Carniglia, Camilo Patrignani, Christine Alice Marie Marcelle Verse, Juan Jose Acoglani, Ana Maria Steinnekker, Carlos Alberto Gimenez Hutton, Jose Antonio Garcia Garcia, Alejandro Jose Laborde, Alejandro Enrique Julio Berger, Pablo Jose Rodriguez Falcon, Jorge Anselmo Fernandez, Guillermo Walter Benelli, Ramon Hector Abrigador, Adrian Marcelo Materia, Sebastian Gil Garro, Ricardo Roberto Eduardo Pujals, Estaban Alberto Materia, Martin Ricardo Miranda, Ana Maria Nora Krieger, Susana Mariel Alonso, Silvio Roberto Damian Donato, Julian Ariel Martinez, Esteban Alberto Materia, Rafael Leonardo De La Torre Mendoza, Alejandra Graciela Paturau, Esteban Mazzuco, Cesar Emilio Zucchino.
Floyd Abrams, John Schoolman, Sarah Penny Windle, Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant S & P Global, Inc.
Colleen Elizabeth Noonan, Jayant W. Tambe, Kelly A. Carrero, Stephen Patrick Farrelly, Jones Day, New York, NY, for Defendants Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Wells Fargo Bank NorthWest, N.A., Wells Fargo Delaware Trust Company, NA, ATC Realty Fifteen, Inc.
John Gerard McCarthy, Sr., Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, New York, NY, Charles H. Davis, Jr., Charles H. Davis, Jr., LLC, Fairburn, GA, Jason S. Bell, Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LL, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant Portsmouth Settlement Company I. LLC.
Charles H. Davis, Jr., Charles H. Davis, Jr., LLC, Fairburn, GA, Jason S. Bell, Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LL, Atlanta, GA, John Gerard McCarthy, Sr., Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant Roy G. Smith.
John Gerard McCarthy, Sr., Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant John Marcum, M.D.
J. PAUL OETKEN, United States District Judge In these five related cases, one of which is a putative derivative and class action, a collective total of over 500 offshore investors ("Plaintiffs") who acquired shares in the Lifetrade Fund, B.V. ("Lifetrade") and two related funds (collectively, the "Lifetrade Funds") seek relief for the evaporation of their investments. According to Plaintiffs, Defendant Roy G. Smith, Lifetrade's founder and chief executive officer ("CEO"); Defendant John Marcum, Lifetrade's chief marketing officer; and Defendant S & P Global, Inc. ("S & P"), a ratings agency, successfully courted investment in the Lifetrade Funds notwithstanding the fact that Lifetrade was secretly funneling investor cash into other Smith- and Marcum-linked enterprises such as Defendant Portsmouth Settlement Company I, LLC ("Portsmouth"). When this loose spending left Lifetrade cash-strapped, Plaintiffs allege, Lifetrade entered into a credit deal with a predecessor to Defendant Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ("Wells Fargo"), which ultimately ended in the transfer of all of Lifetrade's assets to a Wells Fargo subsidiary for far less than they were worth—and without Plaintiffs seeing a dime.
Understandably miffed, Plaintiffs filed these suits against nineteen defendants—including Smith, Marcum, Portsmouth, S & P, and several Wells Fargo entities—alleging misrepresentation, fraudulent conveyance, violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961 – 1968, and other assorted malfeasance. Portsmouth, Smith, Marcum, S & P, and the Wells Fargo entities now move to dismiss all claims against them. (Dkt. Nos. 86, 88, 91.1 ) For the reasons that follow, the motions are granted in part and denied in part.
Because the operative complaints in these related cases are largely identical, the Court draws its factual...
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