Le v. S.E.C.
| Decision Date | 22 February 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:07-cv-2212-WSD.,1:07-cv-2212-WSD. |
| Parties | Donovan LE, Plaintiff, v. SECURITIES and EXCHANGE COMMISSION, and Michael A. Grassmueck, in his capacity as Receiver, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia |
Donovan Le, Federal Way, WA, pro se.
WM. Smith Greig, Securities and Exchange Commission, Alana R. Black, Securities & Exchange Commission, David R. Zaro, Yale K. Kim, Allen Matkins Leek Gamble Mallory & Natsis, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Darryl Scott Laddin, Arnall Golden & Gregory, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants.
Plaintiff Donovan Le ("Plaintiff) is one of several plaintiffs, all acting pro se, who have brought actions in this Court against the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and Michael A. Grassmueck ("Grassmueck") over alleged wrongs committed in connection with a separate suit brought by the SEC against Global Online Direct, Inc. ("Global"). The matter is before the Court on the Motions to Dismiss filed by Grassmueck [2] and the SEC [8].
On April 5, 2007, the SEC filed suit in this Court against Global, Bryant Behrmann, and Larry Hunter, Global's principals and officers, for violations of various federal securities laws. See No. 07-cv-0767-WSD (N.D.Ga.2007) (the "Global Action"). The SEC alleges in the Global Action that Global's primary business was the purchase and resale of retail surplus inventory. As a mechanism for raising revenue and purchasing further inventory, Global developed the Global Online Depository Secure Profit Interest Program ("SPIP"). Through the SPIP, investors who had been pre-selected by Global agreed to loan funds to Global with the promise of interest returns well above market rates. The SEC's amended complaint against Global alleges violations of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. § 77a, et seq., and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78a, et seq. The SEC alleges that Global and its principals offered and fraudulently sold approximately $45 million in unregistered securities.
On June 4, 2007, the Court entered an Order in the Global Action appointing Grassmueck as the permanent Receiver of Global, its subsidiaries, and its affiliates. No. 07-cv-767-WSD [12] ("the June Order"). The Court also ordered the assets of the Global Action defendants to be frozen, including all funds and proceeds obtained or derived from investors or lenders participating in Global's SPIP. Id. at 22-23. The Court's Order provided that all "creditors and others seeking money damages or other relief from the Receiver Estate ... are enjoined from filing or prosecuting any actions or proceedings which involve the Receiver or which affect the Receivership Estate ... except with the prior permission of this Court." Id. at 19-20.
On June 25, 2007, Grassmueck mailed notice to Global's investors and creditors, including Plaintiff, explaining that Global's assets were frozen and advising that all claims against Global were prohibited from being asserted without prior approval of this Court. No. 07-cv-767-WSD, PL's Mot. to Intervene [55], Exh. D.
On September 10, 2007, Plaintiff filed this action. Plaintiff appears to claim that he is entitled to the return of $240,000.00, plus interest, that he loaned to Global through the SPIP. Plaintiff claims that the SEC and Grassmueck are wrongfully exercising dominion over property that Plaintiff believes rightfully belongs to him. Plaintiff seeks damages of $240,000.00 plus interest, the immediate return of his loan to Global, and an order enjoining the SEC from interfering with the contractual relationships between Global and its creditors and investors. Plaintiff also demands higher scrutiny of the SEC, the regulations it promulgates, and its operations generally.
On October 18, 2007, Grassmueck moved to dismiss the complaint against him [2]. On November 27, 2007, the SEC moved to dismiss the complaint against it [8].1
Grassmueck moves to dismiss the claims asserted against him because Plaintiff has not received permission to sue, as required by the Court's Order in the Global Action, and because Plaintiff fails to state a claim as a matter of law.
It is a well-settled "general rule that before suit is brought against a receiver leave of the court by which he was appointed must be obtained." Barton v. Barbour, 104 U.S. 126, 127, 14 Otto 126, 26 L.Ed. 672 (1881). The rule — sometimes called the Barton doctrine — has been applied in federal courts nationwide through the years, often, but not exclusively, in the context of suits against a trustee in bankruptcy. Carter v. Rodgers, 220 F.3d 1249, 1252-53 (11th Cir.2000), cert, denied, 531 U.S. 1077, 121 S.Ct. 775, 148 L.Ed.2d 673 (2001) (citing In re Linton, 136 F.3d 544, 545 (7th Cir.1998)). The Eleventh Circuit has held that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over a suit brought against a receiver if the plaintiff does not first obtain leave of Court to sue. Carter, 220 F.3d at 1253.
A limited exception to the Barton doctrine allows plaintiffs to sue "[t]rustees [and] receivers ... without leave of the court appointing them, with respect to any of their acts or transactions in carrying on business connected with such property." 28 U.S.C. § 959(a). The "carrying on business" exception is narrow and intended only to permit actions, without prior approval, over torts committed in furtherance of the business. Section 959(a) does not apply to suits against receivers for administering or liquidating a receivership estate. Carter, 220 F.3d at 1254; Muratore v. Darr, 375 F.3d 140, 144-45 (1st Cir.2004).
In this case, Plaintiff was required to seek leave of Court to file this suit against Grassmueck.2 The Court's Order appointing Grassmueck as Receiver in the Global Action unambiguously and expressly bars suits against the Receiver without prior leave of the Court. Plaintiff was advised of this restriction when he received Grassmueck's notice of the June Order. Plaintiffs claim asserts only that Grassmueck's administration of the Receiver Estate somehow prejudices Plaintiffs contractual rights. The Court necessarily finds that Plaintiff was required to obtain leave of Court before filing suit against Grassmueck. Because Plaintiff has not sought leave of Court, the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the claims asserted against Grassmueck.
Even if the Court had subject matter jurisdiction over the claims Plaintiff seeks to assert, the Court would be required to dismiss Grassmueck because Plaintiff has failed to state a legally cognizable claim. Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits a party to move for dismissal if a plaintiff fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(b). The law governing motions to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim is well-settled. Dismissal of a complaint is appropriate "when, on the basis of a dispositive issue of law, no construction of the factual allegations will support the cause of action." Marshall County Bd. of Educ. v. Marshall County Gas Dist., 992 F.2d 1171, 1174 (11th Cir.1993). In considering a defendant's motion to dismiss, the court accepts the plaintiffs allegations as true. Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). Ultimately, the complaint is required to contain "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Carp. v. Twombly, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1974, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).
GJR Invs., Inc. v. County of Escambia, Fla., 132 F.3d 1359, 1369 (11th Cir.1998). Yet even in pro se cases, the Court is not permitted to serve as de facto counsel to a party or to rewrite an otherwise deficient pleading. Id.
Even considering Plaintiffs pro se pleading liberally, Plaintiff does not state anything that could be construed as a viable claim against Grassmueck. All Plaintiff asks is that Grassmueck return, "in the shortest time possible," Plaintiffs loan principal and interest. Plaintiff has not identified any facts showing that Grassmueck has wronged him. Plaintiff alleges only that Grassmueck's position as Receiver in the Global Action, which was approved by this Court, renders him subject to suit for Plaintiffs claim as a creditor of Global. In support of these allegations, Plaintiff cites to an interesting, but ultimately inapplicable, jumble of Supreme Court opinions, constitutional provisions, congressional statutes, scholarly treatises, opinion pieces by former government officials, Latin maxims, and the writings of President Madison, all ostensibly related to property and contractual rights of United States citizens. The Court reads Plaintiffs pleading liberally, but the Court cannot pluck valid claims out of this ethereal discussion. Plaintiffs claims against Grassmueck are required to be dismissed.
The SEC moves to dismiss Plaintiffs claims against it on the basis of sovereign immunity and for failure to state a claim.
The doctrine of sovereign immunity shields the United States, its agencies, and its employees from suit, absent a waiver. Fed. Deposit Ins. Corp. v. Meyer, 510 U.S. 471, 475, 114 S.Ct. 996, 127 L.Ed.2d 308 (1994). The SEC is specifically immune from suit except in certain well-defined circumstances. SEC v. Independence Drilling Corp., 595 F.2d 1006, 1008 (5th Cir.1979); 15 U.S.C. §§ 77v(a), 78aa.3 A federal agency, including the SEC, may be sued only in the limited circumstances where Congress has expressly waived sovereign immunity. United...
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