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Case Summaries

Banking Law

[06/24] DDJ Mgmt., LLC v. Rhone Group L.L.C.
In an action claiming that defendants presented plaintiffs with corporate financial statements that were false and misleading, the appellate division's modification of the trial court's order dismissing plaintiffs' fraud claim is reversed where: 1) when a plaintiff has taken reasonable steps to protect itself against deception, it should not be denied recovery merely because hindsight suggested that it might have been possible to detect the fraud when it occurred; and 2) plaintiffs in this action for fraud have alleged facts from which a jury could find that they were justified in relying on the representations defendants made to them.

[06/22] Export-Import Bank of the U.S. v. Asia Pulp & Paper Co.
In an action to collect a $144 million judgment against defendants pursuant to the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act (FDCPA), the district court's order quashing plaintiff's writs of garnishment is affirmed where an electronic funds transfer (EFT) temporarily in the possession of an intermediary bank in New York may not be garnished under the FDCPA to satisfy judgment debts owed by the originator or intended beneficiary of that EFT.

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Government Contracts

[06/24] US v. Jackson
District court's denial of defendant's motion to dismiss his indictment for making false statements on "a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government," in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 1001, is affirmed as, defendant's false statements on his time-sheets, which were transmitted to the prime contractor, and from the prime contractor to the National Security Agency (NSA), and ultimately paid by the NSA, are matters within the jurisdiction of the executive branch under section 1001.

[06/22] US Ex Rel. Miller v. Bill Harbert Int'l. Const., Inc.
In a False Claims Act (FCA) action claiming that five companies and one individual rigged the bidding on three contracts in Egypt funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, judgment for plaintiff is affirmed in part where: 1) the government's claims concerning one contract were not barred by the statute of limitations because they related back to plaintiff's original timely complaint; 2) although the false claims provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act and the FCA did overlap, the two statutes were fully capable of coexisting. However, the judgment is reversed in part where: 1) certain of plaintiff's claims were barred by the statute of limitations because he added them after the limitation period had run; and 2) allowing the government to contradict a factual stipulation called into question the credibility of defendant's counsel, severely impeding counsel's ability to effectively advocate for his client.

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