Law360

Judge OKs $2.8M Mortgage Convenience Fees Settlement

A Florida federal court judge approved a $2.8 million amended settlement on Monday in a class action over convenience fees charged to mortgage holders when they paid their bills online or by telephone.

Though the settlement approved on Monday, the parties removed PHH's right to require customers to amend their mortgage contracts, and unclaimed funds will not revert to the defendants. The company will be required to disclose on its website that customers can pay their mortgage without paying a fee by check or via scheduled bank account withdrawals.

The settlement also lowers the fee for two years for making a payment online from $7.50 to $6.50, and freezes the $17.50 fee for the same time period for paying by telephone with the help of a live agent.

MSNBC

‘They’re All Going To Have To Pay This Money Back’: Florida Attorney Hopes To Hold Celebrity Promoters Of FTX Accountable

Florida attorney Adam Moskowitz speaks to Yasmin Vossoughian about the lawsuit targeting celebrities – such as Tom Brady, Larry David and Kevin O’Leary – who promoted FTX and hopes to hold them accountable for promoting unregistered securities.

The Hollywood Reporter

FTX Fallout: Celebrities Shilling Crypto Face More Than Just Mockery

As FTX implodes, leaving investors searching for ways to recover their losses, star promoters like Larry David and Tom Brady are being dragged into litigation over their role in endorsing the crypto exchanges.

FTX account holders, in addition to those who bought now-worthless crypto from other issuers that filed for bankruptcy, are likely to recoup pennies on the dollar on their investments. FTX’s new chief executive John J. Ray III told a House committee Dec. 13, “We’re not going to be able to recover all the losses here.” They sit in line behind a host of creditors with higher priority. Now, new scrutiny is on the A-listers to whom FTX turned to launder its reputation. While they might not have knowingly committed fraud, they could be on the hook for promoting unregistered securities. “The people who have the most liability happen to be billionaires,” says Adam Moskowitz, who is representing FTX and Voyager customers in proposed class actions against the crypto exchange firms.

The Washington Post

Tom Brady Pushed Crypto To His Fans. This Lawyer Wants Him To Pay Up.

When Michael Livieratos saw quarterback Tom Brady in a commercial for the cryptocurrency trading platform FTX, he knew exactly where he wanted to put his $30,000 crypto investment.

“As a New England Patriots fan my entire life, you can imagine the influence that Tom Brady would have,” said Livieratos, a 56-year-old legal clerk who lives in Connecticut. He soon moved nearly all his money from another crypto exchange to FTX.

Then FTX filed for bankruptcy in a spectacular collapse that vaporized at least $10 billion in assets, according to bankruptcy filings, including all the money Livieratos had on the platform. Now he is a plaintiff in a proposed class-action lawsuit that seeks to hold Brady, his supermodel ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, and nine other celebrity endorsers of FTX responsible for luring him into a very bad deal.

Until its collapse, FTX had been one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges — and one of the most aggressive at marketing digital currencies to the masses. The company had partnerships with NBA teams, patches on Major League Baseball umpire uniforms and the naming rights to the Miami Heat arena. It ran splashy TV ads during NBA and NFL games, including last year’s Super Bowl, in which celebrities portrayed FTX as an exciting but safe place to invest money.

On Tuesday, the U.S. government brought both criminal charges and civil actions against Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder of FTX, accusing him of orchestrating one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.

So Livieratos and his fellow plaintiffs are trying a different approach. Working with Coral Gables, Fla., lawyer Adam Moskowitz, their lawsuit seeks to shift the focus from FTX executives to what Moskowitz sees as a larger circle of complicity that includes some of the world’s most celebrated actors and athletes.

Moskowitz argues that FTX’s interest-bearing accounts were a security, which would require Brady and other promoters to reveal the details of their payments from FTX. The complaint claims “they have never disclosed the nature, scope, and amount of compensation they personally received in exchange for the promotion.” Instead, they appeared in ads featuring such moments as an enthusiastic Brady dialing up everyone in his contact list to pitch crypto trading on FTX, asking again and again: “You in?”

“You have very rich people we all love telling us that they checked this out, and it was okay,” Moskowitz said in an interview. “Why shouldn’t they be held responsible?”

Moskowitz, who specializes in class-action lawsuits, didn’t set out to become a crypto watchdog. But as Miami has become a hub of crypto investment — and as case referrals came to him from consumers who’d lost money from various digital-currency scams — he started scrutinizing the industry.

“It seemed like a lot of investors were getting hurt and no one was really looking out for them,” said Moskowitz, who has also brought prominent lawyer David Boies onto his lawsuit.

If FTX’s accounts are ruled to be securities, Moskowitz argues that the celebrities could be responsible for investor losses under many states’ strict “blue sky” laws that ban the promotion of unregistered securities — and hold promoters liable even if they didn’t understand what they were endorsing.

Moskowitz’s pursuit of A-listers actually began with a separate case against Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, O’Leary’s co-star on “Shark Tank,” who promoted Voyager, a now-bankrupt cryptocurrency lender.

Moskowitz acknowledges the case’s difficulties. But he notes that the celebrities neglected their responsibility to their fans, who lost large sums of money. They lost other things, too.

After the FTX bankruptcy, Livieratos took down a photo of Brady that had hung on his wall for years.

“I can’t look at it anymore,” he said.

Bloomberg

NFL’s Brady, Under Legal Siege for FTX, Turns to Latham for Help

Tom Brady has turned to Latham & Watkins to fight lawsuits tied to his promotion of FTX, with litigants claiming he’s liable for allegedly helping to funnel investors to an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Latham will represent Brady and “several” named defendants in federal and state actions filed in Florida, according to an email Clubok sent Dec. 5 to plaintiffs’ counsel that was shared with Bloomberg Law by Adam Moskowitz, one of the lead plaintiffs’ attorneys.

The firm’s representation of the NFL star quarterback follows the collapse of FTX, a crypto exchange once privately valued at $32 billion, which filed for bankruptcy last month. Former FTX leader Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas Monday and is facing criminal charges.

The lawsuits target FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX ambassadors, including Brady, his ex-wife, model Gisele Bündchen, and comedian Larry David. They are among several legal actions filed against individuals and outside parties since FTX’s initiation of bankruptcy proceedings, which generally shield debtors from lawsuits.

Days after the bankruptcy, The Moskowitz Law Firm, a South Florida litigation boutique, and Boies Schiller Flexner filed actions in Miami federal and state court against Bankman-Fried and celebrity promoters of the exchange.

A federal suit on behalf of a proposed class of FTX customers alleges that FTX’s yield-bearing accounts, which pay interest on crypto holdings, were unregistered securities in violation of Florida and U.S. laws and that celebrities who hawked them should therefore be on the hook for investor damages. The action, filed on Nov. 15, claims damages are over $11 billion.

A separate state action in Florida, backed by lawyers including Boies Schiller co-founder David Boies and partner Stephen Zack, seeks a declaratory judgment on whether FTX yield-bearing accounts are unregistered securities and if, by extension, celebrity promoters violated consumer laws by touting them. That action names Brady, TV personality Kevin O’Leary and former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz — all Florida residents — as defendants.

Other Big Law shops working on matters tied to FTX’s collapse include Sullivan & Cromwell, which is serving as a lead adviser for FTX in bankruptcy proceedings. Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, the sister trading company of FTX, has retained WilmerHale in a federal probe relating to the exchange’s collapse.

CoinDesk

Class Action Lawsuit Against Sam Bankman-Fried and Celebrity FTX Promoters Gets a New Judge in Miami

A class action lawsuit filed against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and a host of paid celebrity promoters for the now-defunct crypto exchange is forging ahead in Miami.

Three separate lawsuits filed by plaintiffs represented by the boutique Moskowitz Law Firm and white-shoe law firm Boies Schiller & Flexner have been consolidated and will be overseen by U.S. District Court Judge Michael Moore in the Southern District of Florida.

The initial suit called FTX a “house of cards, a Ponzi scheme where the FTX entities shuffled customer funds between their opaque affiliated entities.” The plaintiffs alleged that celebrity promoters of FTX – including National Football League quarterback Tom Brady, comedian Larry David, tennis player Naomi Osaka and the National Basketball Association’s Golden State Warriors team – drew in unsophisticated retail investors and promoted unregistered securities.

“We have been working with our team of crypto experts and are more confident than ever that all of the FTX interest accounts will be found by our state and federal courts to be ‘securities’ and thus each of the FTX Brand Ambassadors will be liable for promoting an unregistered security,” said Adam Moskowitz, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs.

Moskowitz said he was confident the FTX celebrity promoters will also be found to have violated state and federal anti-touting laws.

“We have no doubt that Sam [Bankman-Fried] committed one of the country’s largest financial scams and he had no intention of complying with any of these FTC and SEC celebrity endorsement regulations,” Moskowitz said, referring to the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. “That was part of his fraudulent plan to compete with Voyager, Gemini, Coinbase and BlockFi.”

The class action suit, which has called for unspecified damages and a jury trial, is one of a handful of similar class action lawsuits already filed against Bankman-Fried and FTX since the exchange filed for bankruptcy protection one month ago.

MSNBC

FTX Crypto Class Action Lawsuit Interview With Adam Moskowitz

The Daily Mail

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary Reveals He Lost $15 MILLION in FTX Collapse

Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary has revealed he lost all of the $15 million he was paid by FTX following the crypto firm’s collapse.

O’Leary struck a deal for the bumper amount when he signed on to be an ambassador for the firm run by Sam Bankman-Fried in August 2021.

After fees involved in the deal, he was left with about $9.7million worth of crypto in his FTX account, plus $1million equity in the company.

Stars including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Shaquille O’Neal, Steph Curry and Larry David are among those named in the suit filed in Florida.

It claims crypto giant founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, and the celebrities he recruited to endorse the firm are responsible for around $11 billion of losses to American consumers. Many of the stars were 'ambassadors' for the trading platform, while others appeared in prime-time commercials.

The suit, filed by class action attorney Adam Moskowitz, alleges they are collectively 'responsible for the many billions of dollars in damages they caused Plaintiff'.

SlashGear

How The FTX Collapse Could Have A Major Impact On Tom Brady's Net Worth

Of all the public figures that might suffer consequences from the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, a sensible observer might expect the majority to be, well, finance professionals: traders invested heavily in the exchange's FTT token, crypto enthusiasts suffering backlash, so on.

Not so much the winningest quarterback in NFL history. And yet! Tom Brady and his ex-wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, are just two of the celebrities being sued over Sam Bankman-Fried's fiduciary trainwreck. Per CNN, well-known lawyers David Boies and Adam Moskowitz have filed suit on behalf of FTX creditor Edwin Garrison.

The suit's contention, more or less, is that FTX was a scam from the start. The plaintiffs state that FTX was effectively a Digital Age riff on a Ponzi scheme, a structured means of separating suckers from their money in exchange for ultimately worthless tokens. From their perspective, everyone involved with FTX, including celebrities like Brady and Bundchen, who appeared in commercials for the exchange, should be on the hook for paying back the proceeds of their fraud.

What's really at odds in the suit against Brady and Bundchen, which also named basketballer Stephen Curry, comedian Larry David, and other celebrities involved in the PR side of FTX, is just what cryptocurrency is and does under U.S. law.

The larger issue is that cryptocurrency benefits from not being regulated like securities. If crypto had to follow the same rules as stocks, bonds, options, and other securities, token value across every exchange accessible in the U.S. would nosedive. Investors in cryptocurrency, Brady included, would lose their shirts.

In the end, that may be a bigger problem for Brady, Bundchen and the estimated 33.7 million other Americans (via Insider) who own or have owned cryptocurrency than anything related to FTX. It's enough to make a celebrity wish for a friendly little lawsuit.

Law360

FTX's Former CEO And Celebs Hit With More Investor Claims

The former head of FTX was hit with more proposed class actions Monday, along with the Golden State Warriors basketball team and a host of celebrities and athletes who endorsed the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, over claims they schemed to deceive investors and offer them unregistered securities.

Two investor suits filed in California and Florida federal courts name FTX's former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and the San Francisco-based NBA team as defendants, while the Florida suit also names several celebrities including Stephen Curry, Tom Brady and Shaquille O'Neal.

In the Florida suit, U.K.-based plaintiff Sunil Kavuri alleged he relied on misrepresentations the celebrity endorsers made on social media and TV advertisements in purchasing a yield-bearing account with FTX. Kavuri, whose counsel filed a similar suit in the same court on Nov. 15, said the yield-bearing account, or YBA, was portrayed to be like a safe and protected bank account.

CoinDesk

FTX's Celebrity "Brand Ambassadors" Named in Class Action Lawsuit

Yahoo

Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen and Other Celebs Named in FTX Lawsuit

High-profile celebrities including Tom Brady, Stephen Curry and Larry David were named as defendants in a lawsuit for their roles in promoting crypto exchange FTX. The lawyer behind the suit, Adam Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm, discusses the legal considerations of the case and the outlook for celebrity crypto endorsements.

The Wall Street Journal

FTX Crypto Customers Worry They Will Never See Their Money Again

The collapse of FTX has set off the largest crypto-related bankruptcy ever, and court filings are already shedding light on what went wrong and how complicated things could get. Here are three things to know about the company’s bankruptcy process.

NBC News

Tom Brady, Other Celebrities Named In Crypto Lawsuit Claiming ‘Fraudulent Scheme’

A new class action lawsuit led by The Moskowitz Law Firm in Miami is taking aim at mega celebrities, including Tom Brady and Larry David, who endorsed the once-popular crypto company FTX. NBC News’ Jacob Ward shares details on the case and interviews the lead attorney for the lawsuit Adam Moskowitz.

NBC - The Today Show

Several Celebrities Accused of Helping Crypto Company FTX Mislead Customers

A class action lawsuit is putting big names at the center of a growing scandal: Steph Curry, Tom Brady, Larry David, and other celebrities are accused of helping the now-bankrupt crypto-company FTX mislead customers.

CBS News

Tom Brady and Larry David Among Those Accused of Defrauding Investors in FTX Collapse

Former FTX Trading CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, NFL quarterback Tom Brady, supermodel Gisele Bündchen and comedian Larry David are among a celebrity-studded list of people accused of defrauding investors who lost money in the cryptocurrency exchange's sudden collapse.

A proposed class action filed in federal court in Florida late Tuesday names those four, along with other athletes and entertainers, as defendants in the case. All promoted FTX, one of the world's largest crypto trading platform exchanges before it declared bankruptcy on November 11, with the company now under investigation for possible securities violations. 

"It is still very difficult to comprehend that just one company defrauded more than $11 billion dollars from consumers, all from our backyard here in Miami," Adam Moskowitz, the attorney leading the class action, said in an email. The suit seeks unspecified damages and is the first filed against Bankman-Fried and his companies since FTX filed for bankruptcy protection. 

FOX News

FTX Crypto Collapse 'a Real Crisis' For Investors - Attorney Adam Moskowitz

Edwin Garrison, plaintiff in the class action lawsuit against FTX, and his attorney Adam Moskowitz weigh in on the collapsed crypto empire and what the situation means for investors.

ET Canada

Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Other Celebrities Named In Crypto Company FTX Lawsuit

A host of Hollywood and sports celebrities including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen and Larry David were named as defendants in a class-action lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arguing that their celebrity status made them culpable for promoting the firm’s failed business model.

Class action attorney, Adam Moskowitz, pointed to previous cases where the U.S. government fined celebrities Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather for promoting crypto.

“The crypto industry needed celebrity endorsers to get any credibility,” Moskowitz said.

Fox News

Attorney Behind Lawsuit Against FTX Says Tom Brady, Other Celebrities 'Could Be Liable' For Crypto Endorsement

The lawyer behind the class action lawsuit against the now-collapsed crypto trading company FTX said Wednesday that high-profile celebrities such as legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban should be held liable for violating Florida law and causing consumers to suffer more than $11 billion in damages. 

Florida lawyer Adam Moskowitz is representing FTX investor Edwin Garrison in the lawsuit against its founder, crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. The suit, which also targets celebrities who've promoted the platform with commercials and other endorsements, comes almost a week after the company filed for bankruptcy. Moskowitz is simultaneously representing investors in a separate case against crypto broker Voyager Digital, who filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July, freezing their customers’ assets. 

"We’ve been battling Voyager, which was the third-largest crypto company here in Miami for over a year. The end result was going to be that FTX was going to put in a billion dollars and give it to the victims of Voyager," Moskowitz told Fox News on "The Story" Wednesday. "What happened last week? FTX goes bankrupt. So they now have about $11 billion that they have taken from investors."

Moskowitz said that the FTX lawsuit, which names Bankman-Fried, Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors, Shaquille O’Neal, and others, seeks to hold "anybody and everybody that could be liable" accountable for causing his clients several billions in damages.

"There are celebrities that made a lot of money and promoted this product," he said. "There’s case law right on point that unless you tell people you’re getting paid and how much you’re getting paid and what your incentive is, you can be liable."

Moskowitz pointed to Kim Kardashian's recent $1.26 million settlement with the SEC over her June 2021 endorsement of EMAX tokens, a crypto asset offered by EtherumMax., which she touted to her followers without disclosing mutually agreed upon compensation for her endorsement.

Moskowitz pointed out that Kardashian, who recently launched her own private equity firm, is not the first celebrity to be disciplined by the SEC. In 2018, both boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and music producer DJ Khaled were charged after allegedly failing to disclose how much they were each paid to promote investments in initial coin offerings.

"Floyd Mayweather was liable. DJ Khaled was liable. Kim Kardashian was liable," he said.

CNN

FTX Investor Sues Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen And Others As Crypto Contagion Spreads

On Wednesday an FTX investor sued Bankman-Fried as well as several celebrities who have endorsed the platform, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen and Steph Curry. “The deceptive FTX platform maintained by the FTX entities was truly a house of cards,” the proposed class action lawsuit states.

Heavyweight lawyers Adam Moskowitz and David Boies filed the suit on behalf of an FTX customer, Edwin Garrison.

Moskowitz, a Florida lawyer, is also behind a class action suit against crypto broker Voyager Digital, which also filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. And Boies is perhaps best known for representing Vice President Al Gore in 2000’s Bush v. Gore.

In an email to CNN Business, Moskowitz alleged FTX was “a massive Ponzi scheme larger than the Madoff scheme.”

“FTX were geniuses at public relations and marketing, and knew that … [it] could only be successful with the help and promotion of the most famous, respected, and beloved celebrities and influencers in the world,” Moskowitz wrote.

In its heyday, FTX received endorsements from several athletes and celebrities. Brady and Bundchen, notably, took an undisclosed equity stake in the exchange in 2021.

CNN

Crypto Bank Genesis Halts Withdrawals, Citing Fallout From FTX Failure

The suspension comes as the entire crypto industry is on edge following the unraveling of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange and Alameda Research hedge fund, both of which filed for bankruptcy late last week.

The speedy and spectacular implosion of FTX, once one of the industry’s biggest players, is raising concerns about contagion within the crypto ecosystem. Some observers have described FTX’s collapse as the “Lehman moment” for crypto, referring to the 2008 implosion of Wall Street titan Lehman Brothers, which set off the global financial crisis.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that crypto lender BlockFi, which halted withdrawals last week over its exposure to FTX, was preparing for a potential bankruptcy filing.

Meanwhile the legal headaches for Bankman-Fried, FTX’s founder who resigned as CEO last week, are piling up. On Wednesday a group of FTX investors filed a lawsuit against Bankman-Fried as well as several celebrities who have endorsed the platform, including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen and Steph Curry.

“The deceptive FTX platform maintained by the FTX entities was truly a house of cards,” the proposed class action lawsuit states. The investors are being represented by Adam Moskowitz, with David Boies serving as co-counsel.

In an email to CNN Business, Moskowitz alleged FTX was “a massive Ponzi scheme larger than the Madoff scheme.”

“FTX were geniuses at public relations and marketing, and knew that … [it] could only be successful with the help and promotion of the most famous, respected, and beloved celebrities and influencers in the world,” Moskowitz wrote.

The Wall Street Journal

Sam Bankman-Fried, Tom Brady and Other Celebs Sued in Class Action Complaint

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of beleaguered cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and roughly a dozen celebrities have been sued in a class action complaint that alleges that FTX took "advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country" and used some of the biggest names in entertainment and sports to drive more customers to the platform.

The Washington Post

Tom Brady, Larry David, Other Celebrities Named in FTX Suit

Class action attorney Adam Moskowitz, who filed the lawsuit against FTX and its celebrity endorsers, pointed to previous cases where the U.S. government fined celebrities Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather for promoting crypto.

“The crypto industry needed celebrity endorsers to get any credibility,” Moskowitz said.

The plaintiff in the case is Pierce Robertson, who is also involved in a case involving Voyager Digital, another failed cryptocurrency company that was endorsed by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Voyager Digital failed for bankruptcy protection this summer, but FTX had pledged to buy Voyager’s assets for $1.4 billion, which would have led to financial relief for Voyager’s depositors. FTX’s failure now puts its aid to Voyager in question.

The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of Florida. Moskowitz is the attorney representing the victims in the collapse of a Florida residential tower in Surfside, Florida.

The Washington Post

FTX Investors Sue Sam Bankman-Fried and Celebrity Endorsers

The proposed class action names Investors have filed a lawsuit against disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and a slew of his company’s celebrity endorsers such as Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, Larry David and others who have appeared in commercials for the cryptocurrency exchange.

The suit was filed in Florida, where FTX has offices. The company is based in the Bahamas.

David Boies, who represented Al Gore in Bush v. Gore, is among the proposed lawyers for the plaintiffs. Boies also previously represented Theranos in the fallen company’s legal challenges.

Adam Moskowitz, another proposed counsel for the plaintiffs, said in the filing that he could not remember a time when “so many powerful and influential celebrities promoting as strongly and as persuasively as these people who are role models and are so well-respected by everyone.

“And they use their social media, which has never been as powerful as it is today, and they targeted the regular consumer,” he said.

Forbes

Tom And Gisele Together Again As Defendants In FTX Class Action

The suit was brought by Edwin Garrison, an FTX investor who lives in Oklahoma and is seeking class certification. Garrison is represented by Adam Moskowitz of Coral Gables, Florida, and David Boies of Armonk, New York, the high-profile lawyer who led the U.S. case against Microsoft in the late 1990s for the Justice Department and more recently teamed with Moskowitz in a class action against Voyager, another crypto exchange that has fallen into bankruptcy.

Bloomberg

Tom Brady, Larry David, Other Celebrities Named in FTX Suit

A host of Hollywood and sports celebrities including Larry David and Tom Brady were named as defendants in a class action lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arguing that their celebrity status made them culpable for promoting the firm's failed business model.

FTX has been in the public eye for more than a week, after the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange ended up with billions of dollars worth of losses and had to seek bankruptcy protection on Friday. The Bahamas-based company and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, are under investigation by state and federal authorities for allegedly investing depositors funds in ventures without their approval.

The Guardian

US Lawsuit Launched Against FTX Founder and Celebrity Backers

A class action lawsuit has been launched against FTX’s former chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried over the crypto exchange’s collapse which also names as defendants a host of its celebrity backers including Larry David, Naomi Osaka, Gisele Bündchen and Shaquille O’Neal.

Filed in Florida by class action attorney Adam Moskowitz, the case is one of the first to attempt to hold the sports stars and entertainers who promoted cryptocurrencies in the boom years responsible for their support.

As well as naming Bankman-Fried as a personal defendant, the case pulls in as co-defendants a host of names who it claims “either controlled, promoted, assisted in, [or] actively participated in FTX Trading”.

They include: comedian Larry David; Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka; the married couple Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady and his fellow NFL star Trevor Lawrence; basketball players Shaquille O’Neal, Steph Curry, Udonis Haslem and the Golden State Warriors; baseball players Shohei Ohtani and David Ortiz; and celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary.

The lawsuit claims: “The Deceptive FTX Platform maintained by the FTX Entities was truly a house of cards, a Ponzi scheme where the FTX Entities shuffled customer funds between their opaque affiliated entities, using new investor funds obtained through investments in the YBAs and loans to pay interest to the old ones and to attempt to maintain the appearance of liquidity.

The company also sponsored the home court for the Miami Heat basketball team, renaming it the FTX Arena. In the last week, the team announced it would be terminating its relationship with the crypto exchange, calling the news “extremely disappointing”.

Sky News

Tom Brady And Larry David Among Celebrities Named In Lawsuit Against Failed Crypto Exchange FTX

Celebrities including NFL star Tom Brady and comedian Larry David have been named in a class action lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange FTX, accusing them of being culpable for promoting the failed firm.

FTX, one of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, went bankrupt last week, a staggering reversal of fortune for a firm once valued at $32 billion.

The lawsuit, filed late on Tuesday, alleged these stars brought instant credibility to the platform, and are therefore just as culpable as Mr Bankman-Fried.

It is not the first time a celebrity has fallen foul of cryptocurrency promotion. In October, Kim Kardashian agreed to pay $1.26m (£1.12m) to settle charges over a post on her Instagram.

The reality TV star failed to disclose she was paid $250,000 (£220,000) for promoting a cryptocurrency asset on her feed.

"Part of the scheme employed by the FTX Entities involved utilising some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment - like these defendants - to raise funds and drive American consumers to invest … pouring billions of dollars into the deceptive FTX platform to keep the whole scheme afloat," the lawsuit said.

Class action lawyer Adam Moskowitz filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of Florida.

Mr. Moskowitz is the lawyer representing the victims in the collapse of a residential tower in the state.

The Hollywood Reporter

FTX Investors Sue Celebrity Endorsers

Investors have sued FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and a host of celebrities who promoted the crypto platform, including Larry David, Tom Brady and Stephen Curry.

The proposed class action alleges that FTX was a “Ponzi scheme” that fraudulently shuffled customer funds between its affiliated entities. It accuses the company and its endorsers of promoting unregistered securities.

“Part of the scheme employed by the FTX Entities involved utilizing some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment — like these Defendants — to raise funds and drive American consumers to invest,” reads the complaint filed on Tuesday night in Florida federal court.

Other celebrities named in the complaint include Gisele Bündchen, Shaquille O’Neal and Naomi Osaka. They all appeared in ads for FTX. In one commercial, Curry repeatedly denies being cast as an expert in cryptocurrency but says “I don’t need to be. With FTX I have everything I need to buy, sell, and trade crypto safely.”

FTX and its affiliated crypto trading firm Alameda Research filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday after failing to raise sufficient funds to stave off collapse as traders raced to withdraw billions from the exchange. In January, the company was valued at $32 billion, attracting investments from sophisticated investment firms and celebrities alike.

The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice are investigating FTX for potential criminal activity and securities violations, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

More than $1 billion in client funds are missing, according to a report by Reuters.

WSVN 7 - Fox

Adam Moskowitz Discusses the Class Action His Firm is Leading Against Crypto Platform FTX

The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of Florida. Adam Moskowitz is the attorney representing the victims in the collapse of a Florida residential tower in Surfside, Florida.

Well-known attorney David Boies, who represented the U.S. government against Microsoft in the 90s and Al Gore in the 2000 election, is also named as an attorney on the case.

Decrypt

FTX Lawsuit Takes Aim at Larry David, Tom Brady for Promoting Crypto Exchange

A group of investors filed a class action lawsuit against the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, as well as several celebrities, alleging they were part of a “fraudulent scheme” designed “to take advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country.”

The lawsuit, brought by prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner and The Moskowitz Law Firm in Florida Southern District Court, claims the defendants “actively participated” in the “offer and sale of unregistered securities in the form of yield-bearing accounts.”

In the court filing seen by Decrypt, plaintiffs claim that as a result of FTX fraudulent activities, “American consumers collectively sustained over $11 billion in damages.”

Some high-profile individuals who allegedly helped promote FTX include National Football League quarterback Tom Brady, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, tennis star Naomi Osaka, former basketball star Shaquille O'Neal, Shark Tank personality Kevin O’Leary, and even the NBA franchise Golden State Warriors.

While comedian Larry David did appear in a high-profile Super Bowl television ad for FTX, it's worth noting that the pretext of the advertisement is that David prematurely disapproves of innovations like the wheel, coffee, democracy, electricity, and the iPod. When pitched FTX as the punch line, he replies, "Eh. I don't think so, and I'm never wrong about this stuff. Never."

FTX is also facing scrutiny from U.S. authorities amid reports that at least $4 billion, with part of that amount in customer assets, were used to prop up Bankman-Fried’s trading company Alameda Research.

The Street

FTX Collapse: Tom Brady, Steph Curry and 'Mr Wonderful' Are in Big Trouble

The cryptocurrency exchange, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11, was a platform with many star ambassadors. 

Some of them, like NFL star Tom Brady, his ex-wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, NBA stars Stephen Curry and Shaquille O'Neal, businessman Kevin O'Leary, aka "Mr Wonderful," endorsed the firm founded by Sam Bankman-Fried.

But the sudden collapse of the platform risks engulfing the savings of hundreds of thousands of retail and institutional investors. While Bankman-Fried has apologized and regulators have opened investigations, a class action lawsuit has just been filed against "all parties who either controlled, promoted, assisted in, and actively participated in FTX Trading."

The complaint against FTX and the celebrities who endorsed the platform was filed by eminent lawyers Adam Moskowitz and David Boies on behalf of Edwin Garrison, an FTX customer.

"It is still very difficult to comprehend that just one company defrauded more than $11 billion dollars from consumers, all from our backyard here in Miami," said Moskowitz who is also representing a nationwide class action against billionaire Mark Cuban and Stephen Ehrlich, founder, and CEO of fallen crypto lender Voyager Digital.

"FTX were geniuses at public relations and marketing, and knew that such a massive Ponzi scheme larger than the Madoff scheme, could only be successful with the help and promotion of the most famous, respected, and beloved celebrities and influencers in the world.”

Associated Press (AP)

Tom Brady, Larry David, Other Celebrities Named In FTX Suit

A host of Hollywood and sports celebrities including Larry David and Tom Brady were named as defendants in a class action lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arguing that their celebrity status made them culpable for promoting the firm’s failed business model.

Before its failure, FTX was known to use high-profile Hollywood and sports celebrities to promote its products. It had the naming rights to a Formula One racing team as well as a sports arena in Miami. Its commercials featured “Seinfeld” creator David, as well as Brady, the star quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, basketball players Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen Curry, and tennis star Naomi Osaka.

The lawsuit filed late Tuesday alleges that these sports and TV celebrities brought instant credibility to FTX, and should be held just as culpable as Bankman-Fried.

“Part of the scheme employed by the FTX Entities involved utilizing some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment—like these Defendants—to raise funds and drive American consumers to invest ... pouring billions of dollars into the deceptive FTX platform to keep the whole scheme afloat,” the lawsuit said.

Class action attorney Adam Moskowitz pointed to previous cases where the U.S. government fined celebrities Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather for promoting crypto.

“The crypto industry needed celebrity endorsers to get any credibility,” Moskowitz said.

The plaintiff in the case is Pierce Robertson, who is also involved in a case involving Voyager Digital, another failed cryptocurrency company that was endorsed by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Voyager Digital failed for bankruptcy protection this summer, but FTX had pledged to buy Voyager’s assets for $1.4 billion, which would have led to financial relief for Voyager’s depositors. FTX’s failure now puts its aid to Voyager in question.

The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of Florida. Moskowitz is the attorney representing the victims in the collapse of a Florida residential tower in Surfside, Florida.

Law360

Voyager CEO Dropped From Crypto 'Ponzi Scheme' Suit

Voyager Digital Holdings CEO Stephen Ehrlich has been cut from a proposed securities class action accusing him, along with the now-bankrupt crypto trading platform and the "Shark Tank" personality and entrepreneur Mark Cuban, of running a Ponzi scheme that conned consumers out of billions of dollars' worth of crypto.

The proposed class filed a notice of voluntary dismissal Friday, saying Ehrlich was being removed from the suit with prejudice.

An attorney representing the proposed class, Adam Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm PLLC, told Law360 in an email Monday that, after being provided with information about Ehrlich's finances, the proposed class "decided that it was best for all of the Voyager investors to reach an agreement with Voyager's counsel, whereby they would no longer seek to stay our Miami federal litigation against Cuban and his Mavericks, and in exchange, we would voluntarily dismiss Mr. Ehrlich."

Daily Business Review

Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks in Crosshairs of Investors in Cryptocurrency Class Action

A South Florida attorney has his sights on famed investor Mark Cuban—and his Dallas Mavericks basketball team—after a federal bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of New York approved a stipulation involving Voyager Digital Holdings and its chief executive officer, and allowed a Miami federal lawsuit to proceed.

In the Miami case, Adam Moskowitz, the Managing Partner at The Moskowitz Law Firm in Coral Gables, and David Boies, Chairman and Managing Partner at Boies Schiller Flexner in New York, are co-lead counsel in the class action lawsuit against defendants, Voyager and Stephen Ehrlich.

The order U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles entered found that the class of plaintiffs, more than 320 investors, had agreed not to pursue claims against the defendants. In return, the defendants offered up a clear path to attempt to hold Cuban and the Mavericks accountable in the Southern District of Florida court case.

Meanwhile, plaintiffs counsel is seeking third-party discovery to determine what alleged role and liability the NBA had in the Voyager bankruptcy.

“The NBA is a real target because they approved, they supervised, and said they would share in the agreement between the Mavericks and Voyager,” Moskowitz claimed. “This is at a time when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that COVID could be ‘the life or death of the NBA’ and decided to encourage each team to sign crypto currency deals to make up the shortfalls.”

Moskowitz was among the attorneys who filed the proposed nationwide class action against Voyager more than eight months ago that was assigned to U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga, according to court documents.

Hundreds of thousands of customers nationwide were part of the class that alleged an estimated fraud of more than $4 billion against one of the then-largest cryptocurrency platforms, Voyager.

Soon after, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and nearly 10 state attorneys general sued Voyager, which is listed in Toronto, Canada, and operates out of New York, for the “sale of an unregistered security,” in violation of state and federal law.

And in the class action, when the defendants produced discovery, plaintiffs counsel alleged that it revealed the direct involvement of Cuban in his solicitation of new investors for Voyager. But these investors soon sustained the loss of their investment, court documents show.

While this process dragged, Moskowitz said that “thousands of additional victims” contacted class action counsel, and claimed that Cuban convinced them to invest with Voyager prior to that crypto broker filing for bankruptcy protection in the Southern District of New York.

Moskowitz said when Silver stated that COVID-19 could be the life or death of the NBA, in the same week, Silver coordinated for multiple franchises to sign partnership agreements with various cryptocurrency companies, including Voyager and FTX.

“It may be just a coincidence that Mark Cuban decided to be on the cover of most financial publications this week, for his new health care initiatives,” Moskowitz said. “It might also be a case of the movie ‘Wag the Dog,’ where he deflects attention from his real crisis.”

PantherNOW

Pandemic Fee Lawsuit Continues As Court Mulls FIU Appeal

Attorneys presented oral arguments at the Third District Court of Appeals last week in the case that will settle a dispute over FIU’s collection of student fees for services inaccessible to students during COVID-19 related shutdowns two years ago.

The Oct 11 hearing tasked judges with deciding whether to strike down a previous circuit court ruling that classified the case as a class action suit – a decision in favor of students – or to uphold it.

Potential impacts of the ruling affect students who were enrolled during the 2020 academic term, and the case could possibly result in refunds of up to $10 million, according to Adam Moskowitz, whose firm is representing students in the case.

Shortly after the case was filed in April 2021 by then-students Rebecca Alexandre and Sarah Fagundez, the university quickly filed a motion to have it dismissed. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge William Thomas denied that motion and certified the case as a class action lawsuit.

A class action suit means that while only two students are suing the university, the case is being tried on behalf of all FIU students enrolled in 2020.

Students argue that because services funded by these fees – such as recreation centers, on-campus clinics and transportation and parking – were barred or partially unavailable during COVID-19 lockdowns, refunds should be provided.

The university’s argument has centered on the claim that they’re unable to be sued because of sovereign immunity, a legal concept that limits cases where an institution or individual can be sued due to its status as an entity of the state government.

However, in a 27-page order, Judge Thomas said he would not dismiss the case on those grounds because he believed FIU bypassed sovereign immunity by entering into a clear agreement with students.

While the terms of any type of contract could be interpreted in different ways, Judge Logue pointed out that a regulation establishing the rules of refunds could itself constitute a type of contract, indicating an understanding of services to be exchanged for fees.

Those terms are what the judges focused on in questioning Moskowitz, asking how they could determine specific guidelines regarding how fees could be spent and where those terms could be found.

“It’s a gray area,” Moskowitz admitted in court. However, he remains confident that a case remains to be made.

This isn’t the only case that Moskowitz, also a law professor at the University of Miami, is handling. He’s filed over 10 cases with other universities for the same complaint and originally intended to file a suit against the state Board of Governors. He instead had to file individual cases for each school.

What made a successful case for students at other universities – and what Moskowitz predicts will make FIU another success story – are the receipts.

“I just think the issue is that clear,” Moskowitz said to PantherNOW in an interview.

Registration statements and invoices all serve as receipts for the money that FIU should pay back to students, Moskowitz argued.

Moskowitz hopes that should the Third District Court of Appeals rule in favor of the students, FIU will choose to settle.

“I would hope the school would realize that it’s a waste of money and time,” said Moskowitz. “But they seem to be fighting to the very last day.”

Law360

Lower Settlement In Mortgage Case A Better Deal, Judge Told

Consumers who borrowed from mortgage loan company Ocwen Loan Servicing and successor PHH Mortgage asked a Florida federal judge Tuesday to give preliminary approval to an amended $2.8 million settlement to end nationwide proposed class claims over convenience fees after the judge expressed reservations about approving a prior $12.6 million deal.

In a 22-page motion, the borrowers argued that although the dollar figure in the revised deal is lower than the prior proposed settlement, the amended settlement offers more value to consumers, who would have been required to alter the terms of their mortgages under the earlier settlement to allow Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC and PHH Mortgage Corp. to charge convenience fees in the future.

The new proposal doesn't require class members to revise their mortgage notes, and it includes an injunction that requires the companies to disclose on payment forms that online and telephone payments are optional and that alternative free methods of payment are available, according to the motion.

The Washington Post

Kim Kardashian Fined $1 Million By SEC Over Crypto Promotion

The long list of celebrities promoting cryptocurrencies just got shorter. Kim Kardashian is being barred from doing so for three years — and will pay a $1 million fine -- to settle federal charges that she recommended a crypto security to her 330 million Instagram followers without making clear that she was paid to do so.

The reality TV star also must give up the $250,000 she was paid for the Instagram post about Ethereum Max tokens, plus interest, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission settlement announced Monday.

Kardashian is the latest celebrity to get ensnared in regulations that require full disclosure by people getting paid to promote financial products.

In 2018, the SEC settled charges against professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and music producer DJ Khaled for failing to disclose payments they received for promoting investments in a digital currency.

Many celebrities and athletes regularly promote crypto through advertisements on TV and online in ways that do not violate any law. Matt Damon, Tom Brady, Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow are among those who have used their fame to spread enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement that the Kardashian settlement “serves as a reminder to celebrities and others that the law requires them to disclose to the public when and how much they are paid to promote investing in securities.”

Gensler also used Monday’s attention-grabbing settlement with a celebrity as an opportunity to educate the public, releasing a humorous YouTube video that warns about the potential pitfalls of investment advice doled out by the rich and famous.

“Bravo to SEC Chairman Gensler, whose action shows that no celebrity, regardless of how big or famous, that profited from pushing these risky cryptocurrency investments should be able to simply walk away,” said Adam Moskowitz, a class action attorney currently suing Mark Cuban for promoting the company Voyager Digital before it failed.

Associated Press (AP)

Kim Kardashian Fined $1 Million By SEC Over Crypto Promotion

Law360

Voyager Claimant Calls Ch. 11 Plan Docs 'Placeholders'

A claimant of cryptocurrency investment platform Voyager Digital Holdings Inc. objected late Wednesday to the Chapter 11 plan disclosures of the debtor, saying the plan and related documents are mere placeholders that provide no meaningful information to creditors.

In the objection, claimant Pierce Robertson said the plan documents lack the most basic information required of a disclosure statement including a liquidation analysis, a description of pending litigation and the results of an investigation into prepetition conduct of the debtor undertaken by a special committee of its board.

As a result, the debtors should not be authorized to waste estate resources soliciting a plan until this court is comfortable that the proposed releases are more likely than not confirmable over the objection of a dissenting creditor," Robertson said in the objection.

Law360

EmpiresX Trader Pleads Guilty In $100M Crypto Scheme

The purported head trader of a cryptocurrency platform prosecutors allege was a Ponzi scheme pled guilty to one count of securities fraud in a Florida federal court Thursday, with the government agreeing to dismiss the only other count against him.

Joshua David Nicholas was allegedly the head trader for cryptocurrency platform EmpiresX, which prosecutors have alleged he and two others used to generate $100 million in a crypto-based Ponzi scheme.

Nicholas had been facing one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. The government agreed to dismiss the wire fraud count for the securities fraud count, according to Thursday's plea agreement.

The New York Times

Lawsuits Over Tragedies Can Drag On. Not in the Florida Condo Collapse.

A little over a year after the Champlain Towers South fell, the Surfside condo victims’ families are about to be compensated for their losses.

The hearings in the civil case over the deadly collapse last year of a beachfront condominium tower in Surfside, Fla., gave survivors and victims’ families a chance to seek financial compensation for their enormous losses. But those involved in the proceedings also describe them as far more meaningful — something akin to catharsis — which they credit to the extraordinary handling of a case born out of calamity.

After five weeks of lengthy and emotional hearings, the court issued letters in late August, informing survivors and victims’ families of how much they would receive in damages from a settlement of more than $1 billion with insurance companies, the developers of an adjacent building and other defendants. Individual awards ranged from $50,000 for some post-traumatic stress disorder claims to more than $30 million for some wrongful death claims, Judge Hanzman said in an interview this week.

“I don’t think I have shed as many tears in my 61 years as much as I have throughout the last five weeks,” he said.

The collapse killed 98 people and left 135 unit owners dispossessed. There was no public fund like the one created for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Lawyers braced their clients for years of litigation, but instead, the Surfside checks are expected to be cut by the end of September, just 15 months after part of the Champlain Towers South came crashing down.

Daily Business Review

Miami Judge Gives Preliminary Approval to Cryptocurrency Class Action—With A Caveat

Good news for victims of a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme.

A judge who sits on the Miami-Dade Circuit Court bench granted an unopposed motion for preliminary approval of a class action settlement for those scammed out of more than $100 million in connection with the Empires X Corp. platform.

However, Adam M. Moskowitz—an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law whose law firm, The Moskowitz Law Firm in Coral Gables, the court-appointed co-lead class counsel—warned that the victims in the nationwide class would not see a cent … yet.

“All of the lawyers that investigated these claims for the past few months concluded that there was nothing to collect, and therefore they all passed on helping any of these victims,” Moskowitz said. “But we heard many stories about some of them losing their life savings, so we simply had to act and the best device to use is the class action. Sometimes when do the right thing in life, karma works out in the end.”

Now, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Fine scheduled a final approval hearing on Oct. 27 to consider the proposed settlement’s fairness, reasonableness and adequacy, and determine whether he should approve the settlement.

These terms include setting plaintiffs Eric Villanueva and Francisco Gonzalez as class representatives, according to the state court order.

The settlement class will be all people from June 10, 2018, to Aug. 30, 2022, who invested in the Empires X investment platform, which Moskowitz estimated is in the thousands. And Fine appointed the Moskowitz Law Firm and the law firm Meyer & Nuñez in Coral Gables as lead class counsel.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges in June against the Empires X founders, the defendants, for a scheme in which they allegedly raised money by luring investors with false claims of 1% daily profits. But rather than deliver their clients the promised profits, they instead misappropriated large sums of investors’ money for their personal use, per the government complaint.

After more than a month of “arms-length mediation,” Moskowitz said the parties reached a settlement agreement with Nicholas to fully cooperate with class counsel as part of his plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the unopposed motion for preliminary approval of the class action settlement.

Nicholas will aid in the investigation and prosecution of claims against the two other founders to recover all assets that the non-settling defendants have in their possession, per the order. And while the settlement is an accomplishment, Moskowitz said there would be hard work ahead to leverage this insight into locating the remaining defendants.

“In the criminal court, Nicholas has a federal public defender because he’s signed affidavits saying he’s broke,” Moskowitz said. “I mean, less than broke. He’s going to owe the government money. Even though he’s going to, he’s going to try to help all the victims and do the right thing, which is pretty amazing because he has some incredibly valuable information.”

Investing.com

Voyager Asks Court To Stop Investors’ Lawsuit Against Its CEO And Mark Cuban

Crypto brokerage firm Voyager Digital has asked the court handling the lawsuit filed against the company, its CEO, and Mark Cuban, to halt the lawsuit against its CEO Stephen Ehrlich and the American billionaire, according to law360’s recent report.

The company filed for bankruptcy in July this year and has cited Chapter 11 to pause the lawsuit filed. Media reports pointed out that while lawsuits against companies in bankruptcy are on automatic stay, the same doesn’t apply to third parties, including a company’s executives

Recently, a group of crypto investors filed a lawsuit against Mark Cuban and the CEO of Voyager Digital, Stephen Ehrlich. The lawsuit alleges that Cuban helped lure customers to the company, contributing to investor losses of $5 billion, as he heavily promoted the cryptocurrency platform in a way that misled unsophisticated investors.

According to the complaint filed, “Cuban and Ehrlich, as will be explained, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing—in many cases, their life savings—into the Deceptive Voyager Platform and purchasing Voyager Earn Program Accounts (‘EPAs’), which are unregistered securities.”

The investors cited the public statements made by both, including tweets such as:

“I gotta add, I am a [Voyager] customer, and I’ve been a customer for several months now. I like to use it; it’s easy, it’s cheap, it’s fast, and the pricing is actually really good, so we find it as a perfect fit for our Mavs fans and reaching Mavs fans of all ages.” —Mark Cuban

“In stocks and crypto, you will see companies that were sustained by cheap, easy money — but didn’t have valid business prospects — will disappear. Like [Warren] Buffett says, ‘When the tide goes out, you get to see who is swimming naked.” —Mark Cuban

“Mark is a tremendous advisor to me, and we have a great relationship. He is a big believer in crypto. Sometimes the value someone brings is not what the public sees but where they give you guidance and help behind the scenes.” —Stephen Ehrlich

This is not the first lawsuit filed against Voyager. Investors are holding the celebrities who promoted Voyager responsible.

According to Crunchbase, the total funding of the cryptocurrency lender amounts to US$360.1 million in the crypto market.

Coinspeaker

Voyager Digital Asks Court to Dismiss Investors’ Lawsuit Against Stephen Erlich and Mark Cuban

Voyager Digital’s bankruptcy hearings are well underway, and while the firm is open to different workable solutions to get back on its feet, some factors currently stand as a major bottleneck across the board.

Beleaguered crypto lending platform, Voyager Digital has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by a group of investors against its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Stephen Erlich, and Mark Cuban, the owner of Dallas Mavericks. Both men were sued earlier this month as they were accused of preying on inexperienced investors with promotional activities that made them invest in Voyager’s products prior to its bankruptcy.

Voyager Digital was once a high-flying crypto investments and lending platform and on more than one occasion, the company’s products have been promoted by the Dallas Mavericks boss.

“I gotta add, I am a Voyager customer and I’ve been a customer for several months now. I like to use it, it’s easy, it’s cheap, it’s fast, and the pricing is actually really good, so we find it as a perfect fit for our Mavs fans and reaching Mavs fans of all ages,” the lawsuit filed against the duo quoted Mark Cuban shilling the platform.

An excerpt from the lawsuit also revealed that the indicted business leaders went to great lengths to “dupe millions of Americans into investing in many cases, their life savings—into the Deceptive Voyager Platform and purchasing Voyager Earn Program Accounts (‘EPAs’), which are unregistered securities.”

In the lawsuit, it was alleged that Mark Cuban knew that Voyager’s products are a scam, yet he encouraged investors to invest in the platform. Following the bankruptcy, chances are high that the crypto lender’s investors will not be able to regain 100% of their frozen assets.

Market Watch

Voyager Digital Seeks Stay of Lawsuit Against CEO, Mark Cuban

Lawyers for Voyager Digital Holdings Inc. are asking the bankruptcy court overseeing the crypto firm's Chapter 11 case to pause a lawsuit filed by investors against the company's founder and CEO Stephen Ehrlich and Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, who had promoted the firm.

The lawsuit, filed two weeks ago, alleges that Mr. Ehrlich and Mr. Cuban lured customers to make investments at Voyager in deceptive ways.

While lawsuits against companies in bankruptcy are automatically stayed, the same doesn't apply to third parties, including a company's executives. However, bankruptcy judges can agree to extend the temporary protection to others.

Voyager's lawyers argued in their court filing that the lawsuit against Mr. Ehrlich and Mr. Cuban are inextricably tied to a similar lawsuit filed by the same group of plaintiffs against the company itself.

Law360

Voyager Asks To Halt Investor 'Ponzi' Suit Against Mark Cuban

A group of investors tried to circumvent a litigation stay put in place when Voyager Digital sought Chapter 11 protection by filing a new suit targeting the cryptocurrency platform's CEO and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the company told a New York bankruptcy judge Monday.

A Voyager investor sued the company in December over allegations that it deceptively told investors its platform was "100% commission-free" while actually taking "exorbitant" hidden commissions, but when the case was stayed in the wake of Voyager's bankruptcy petition, the investor's counsel "restyled" the case earlier this month as a suit against CEO Stephen Ehrlich and Mark Cuban, according to Voyager's adversary complaint.

"It is obvious that the Robertson complaint simply attempts to circumvent the automatic stay while still charging the debtors with grievous wrongs," Voyager said. "It literally incorporates the bulk of the plaintiffs' prior complaint against the debtors and asks a court to hold the debtors' CEO and Mr. Cuban responsible for the debtors' alleged misconduct."

Forbes

Lawsuit Accuses Mark Cuban, Voyager Digital Of Defrauding Cryptocurrency Investors

Dallas Mavericks governor Mark Cuban is facing a class action lawsuit for his promotion of bankrupt cryptocurrency brokerage Voyager Digital.

The Moskowitz Law Firm, based in Coral Gables, Florida, filed a civil suit against Cuban in the United States District Court in Southern Florida, demanding a jury hearing for the case.

The suit alleges that Cuban and Voyager Digital CEO Stephen Ehrlich used their influence to misrepresent the brokerage, making dubious claims to lure in investors and eventually defrauding them.

“Cuban and Ehrlich, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing—in many cases, their life savings—into the Deceptive Voyager Platform and purchasing Voyager Earn Program Accounts (‘EPAs’), which are unregistered securities,” the lawsuit alleges.

The suit continues, describing Voyager Digital as an "unregulated and unsustainable fraud, similar to other Ponzi schemes" that "specifically target[s] young and inexperienced investors."

A spokesperson for the Mavericks said that the team does not have a comment at this time.

Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks announced a five-year partnership with Voyager in October 2021, making Voyager the official cryptocurrency brokerage of the Mavericks. Their signage appeared throughout the American Airlines Center during Mavericks’ home games during the 2021-22 season.

Voyager paused all trading and withdrawals on its platform on July 1, 2022. Four days later, the company filed for Chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. More than 3.5 million American customers have nearly $5 billion in frozen assets on the platform.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are seeking charges for aiding and abetting fraud, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary, civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment. In addition, the suit lists relief in the form of “awarding actual, direct and compensatory damages.”

The Street

Crypto Evangelist Mark Cuban Is in Trouble

Since crypto lender Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, criticism of the billionaire and owner of the NBA Dallas Mavericks team has been raining down on social media.

These critics accuse him of promoting the platform and therefore hold him responsible for the losses they say they suffered as we wrote on July 8. These reproaches now result in a class action lawsuit against the successful entrepreneur.

These angry individual investors claim that Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks tricked them into investing in Voyager Digital, which went bankrupt and cost them some $5 billion in total, according to the complaint. The complaint is based on another complaint filed already in December against Voyager Digital.

"Cuban and Ehrlich, as will be explained, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing — in many cases, their life savings — into the deceptive Voyager platform and purchasing Voyager earn program accounts (“EPAs”), which are unregistered securities," the plaintiffs add.

"As a result, over 3.5 million Americans have now all but lost over $5 billion in cryptocurrency assets."

Plaintiffs, who say they want Cuban and Ehrlich to pay them back, primarily use the Shark Tank star's statements when signing a partnership between the Dallas Mavericks and Voyager Digital against him.

Voyager is a cryptocurrency trading platform. The firm also offers loans and staking services, which are a kind of rewards for holding certain coins. It was its lending business that got it into trouble: Voyager appears to have loaned its clients' funds to crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, also known as 3AC.

However, this hedge fund defaulted in June on a loan of $667 million granted to it by Voyager. Three Arrows Capital was forced by a court, in the British Virgin Islands, to enter into liquidation. Faced with this disaster, Voyager suspended deposits, withdrawals and loyalty rewards on its platform.

Business Insider

Lawsuit Claims Mark Cuban And The Dallas Mavericks 'Duped' Customers Into Investing With The Now-bankrupt Crypto Platform Voyager Digital, Resulting In $5 Billion In Losses

A group of investors claimed Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks duped them into investing in a "Ponzi scheme," according to a lawsuit. The suit claims Voyager Digital, a crypto trading platform, was "built on false promises." The lawsuit claims 3.5 million Americans have lost more than $5 billion as a result.

Chron

Mark Cuban Accused Of Defrauding Investors With $5 Billion Crypto 'Ponzi Scheme'

A lawsuit filed Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida accuses Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban of misleading investors through his promotion of cryptocurrency trading platform and brokerage Voyager Digital, which filed for bankruptcy in July.

The class action suit compiled by The Moskowitz Law Firm based in Coral Gables, Fla., claims Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks were a vital outreach arm for the platform masterminded by Stephen Ehrlich, CEO and co-founder of Voyager Digital. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that Ehrlich's company targeted small-time traders with tempting introductory rewards and ultimately fleeced more than three million investors of $5 billion in total funds.

The suit describes Voyager Digital as an "unregulated and unsustainable fraud, similar to other Ponzi schemes" that "specifically target[s] young and inexperienced investors." It states Cuban and Ehrlich "personally reached out to investors, individually and through the Dallas Mavericks, to induce them to invest in the Deceptive Voyager Platform."

In October 2021, Cuban's Mavericks signed a five-year partnership with Voyager Digital offering $100 in cryptocurrency to Mavs fans who created an account using the promo code "MAVS100," and then deposited $100 of their own money and executed a trade for cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency traded between users as payment for goods and services. To commemorate the deal, Cuban held a press conference with Ehrlich promoting the partnership and answering questions about the "official crypto partner of the Dallas Mavericks."

"I gotta add, I am a [Voyager] customer and I've been a customer for several months now," Cuban said during the press conference. "I like it: It's easy, it's cheap, it's fast and the pricing is actually really good, so we find it as a perfect fit for our Mavs fans and reaching Mavs fans of all ages."

Plaintiffs in the class action suit are pursuing charges for aiding and abetting fraud and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty as well as civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment. Demanded relief listed in the lawsuit includes "awarding actual, direct and compensatory damages."

Fortune

Billionaire ‘Shark Tank’ Star Mark Cuban Sued For Promoting Crypto Platform Voyager Digital

A group of Voyager Digital customers claimed in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban helped lure customers to the company, contributing to investor losses of $5 billion.

The class action lawsuit, filed in Florida federal court, alleges that Cuban heavily promoted the cryptocurrency platform in a way that misled unsophisticated investors. The lawsuit also named Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich and the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks as defendants.

“Cuban and Ehrlich, as will be explained, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing—in many cases, their life savings—into the Deceptive Voyager Platform and purchasing Voyager Earn Program Accounts (‘EPAs’), which are unregistered securities,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit alleges that despite Voyager Digital advertising “100% commission-free” crypto trading, customers were often saddled with “exorbitant hidden commissions on every cryptocurrency trade.”

Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy on July 5 after freezing withdrawals due to struggles with solvency amid the current crypto downturn.

“I gotta add, I am a [Voyager] customer and I’ve been a customer for several months now. I like to use it; it’s easy, it’s cheap, it’s fast, and the pricing is actually really good, so we find it as a perfect fit for our Mavs fans and reaching Mavs fans of all ages,” Cuban is quoted in the complaint as saying at a press conference with Ehrlich last October.

In an email to Fortune, Adam Moskowitz, lead counsel of Miami-based The Moskowitz Law Firm which is representing the Voyager customers who brought the complaint against Cuban, said he has doubts about Cuban’s actual stake in Voyager.

“When we attended the first Voyager bankruptcy hearing we were very surprised not to see counsel for Mr. Cuban. If he invested so much of his, and the Maverick’s own money, as he told our clients, where are his claims,” said Moskowitz.

At the same press conference with Ehrlich, the lawsuit claims, Cuban said that Voyager digital was safe although not 100% risk-free: “It’s as close to risk-free as you’re gonna get in the crypto universe.”

The Dallas Morning News

Lawsuit Accuses Mark Cuban Of Duping Investors With Crypto ‘Ponzi Scheme’

A new lawsuit accuses billionaire Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban of partnering with now bankrupt crypto platform Voyager Digital to dupe investors in “a massive Ponzi scheme.”

A class action lawsuit filed on Wednesday on behalf of millions of investors alleges that 3.5 million Americans lost over $5 billion dollars in cryptocurrency assets through Voyager.

Voyager temporarily suspended all trading and withdrawals on its platform on July 1 shortly before filing for bankruptcy in New York on July 5, listing both assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion. Voyager users are now waiting to see if they will get their money back when the company comes out of bankruptcy, either on its own or with a new owner.

Adam Moskowitz, the Managing Partner of the Miami-based The Moskowitz Law Firm, which filed the suit at the US District Court in Southern Florida, said it’s not likely the bankruptcy process will get users their money back.

“I’ve never seen a bankruptcy where people come out of it better than they were before,” said Moskowitz.

Stephen Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager, and the Dallas Mavericks, the NBA team owned by Cuban, are also listed as defendants. The lawsuit says that Cuban, Ehrlich and the Mavericks should pay the victims back.

“Cuban and Ehrlich, as will be explained, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing — in many cases, their life savings,” the lawsuit claimed.

Cuban did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit.

The suit said that Cuban and Ehlrich “personally reached out to investors, individually and through the Dallas Mavericks, to induce them to invest in the deceptive Voyager platform.”

Moskowitz said his firm has heard from hundreds of Voyager investors who said they signed up on the app after seeing Cuban talk about it. Some of the investors lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said.

“Hundreds have called and said, ‘The only reason I got into Voyager and crypto is Cuban. He’s the only person I’d respect enough to put my life savings in these accounts,” Moskowitz said.

The lawsuit said Voyager is suspect because it claims to be commission-free to gain an edge over competitors like Coinbase. But, in reality, Voyager sets its pricing high enough that it can take “exorbitant hidden commissions on every cryptocurrency trade.”

Moskowitz said his firm hired crypto experts who immediately knew that Voyager’s claims were suspect.

“Cuban was going around doing a roadshow with Ehrlich saying that he did an investigation and that this was a safe investment,” Moskowitz said. “And we just couldn’t figure out how could he say that? I mean, in a very quick minute, our experts are saying it’s a scam. So what’s going on here? Something was very strange.”

While promoting Voyager, Cuban said that he himself had decided it was safe and used it to invest, the lawsuit says. But Moskowitz said that he hasn’t seen any documentation in the bankruptcy case that shows Cuban lost money.

“It could be that he did lose money,” Moskowitz said. “But we’ve asked for proof and haven’t seen anything. It’s very troubling.”

Voyager also ran into trouble from loaning money to hedge funds to trade cryptocurrencies on its platform. When cryptocurrencies crashed, the hedge fund couldn’t pay Voyager back.

“It’s like a Ponzi scheme,” Moskowitz said. “When someone says, ‘I want my money back, they tell you, ‘Well, it was used to pay Peter and now we have no money to pay you.’”

At the end of June, crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital defaulted on a loan from Voyager that was worth more than $670 million. Shortly after, Voyager filed for bankruptcy.

Yahoo

Mark Cuban Sued For Promoting Voyager Crypto Products

TechCrunch

Mark Cuban, Mavericks in Hot Water Over Voyager ‘Ponzi Scheme’

Lawsuits from disgruntled investors are beginning to stack up after crypto prices plummeted over the past few months, leaving them with steep losses. Billionaire Mark Cuban is the latest celebrity on the receiving end of investor ire.

A group of Voyager Digital customers filed a class action suit in Florida federal court against Cuban, as well as the basketball team he owns, the Dallas Mavericks, alleging their promotion of the crypto platform resulted in more than 3.5 million investors losing $5 billion collectively. Voyager Digital’s CEO, Stephen Ehrlich, was also named as a defendant in the suit.

The Mavericks launched their exclusive, five-year partnership with Voyager in October 2021, giving fans cash rewards for making trades on the platform. The announcement said the cryptocurrencies were “an attractive investment for novice investors who might only have $100 to start.”

According to the lawsuit filed today, Cuban also promoted the company “as a Voyager customer himself, in a ploy to dupe investors into believing that Voyager was a safe platform.” Although the partnership with the Mavericks was disclosed, the lawsuit alleges that Cuban did not disclose the compensation he personally received to promote Voyager.

Investing.com

Mark Cuban Blamed In Voyager Digital Lawsuit For Alleged Ponzi Scheme

Mark Cuban, a heavy player in the crypto game and also the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, might get into huge trouble with the law after Voyager Digital’s demise. Today, court documents surfaced blaming the “shark tank” category investor for duping many Americans into thinking that Voyager Digital “is as close to risk free as you’re gonna get in the crypto universe.” Turns out, it was pretty much the opposite.

The question whether Voyager Digital was a legit project that simply failed to voyage through hardships or actually a Ponzi scheme remains open. But the fact that Mr. Cuban heavily endorsed Voyager Digital is true, going as far as to offer Dallas Mavericks fans a $100 bonus on their first deposit. Basically, any basketball fan, encouraged by Mark Cuban, could download the Voyager app in one simple click and double up the initial deposit. However, as Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy in June, it’s unlikely that any of the retail investors are going to get their money back, nevermind a profit.

The 92-page court hearing document also named the Dallas Mavericks as a defendant. Moreover, the plaintiffs claim that Cuban and Voyager CEO Steve Ehrlich were in cahoots on the Ponzi scheme.

On top of that, a similar class action lawsuit has already been filed in December by The Moskowitz Law Firm. This lawsuit was updated again in April, just two months before the troubled crypto firm of Voyager Digital would actually go bankrupt. “Our main goal is simply to allow every common investor a fighting chance,” says lawyer Adam Moskowitz.

Protos

Mark Cuban and Voyager Chief Ran Crypto ‘Ponzi Scheme,’ Lawsuit Claims

A new lawsuit claims Mark Cuban played a pivotal role in shilling now-defunct Voyager Digital’s unregistered securities, duping investors in a ‘Ponzi scheme’ that lost them billions.

In a proposed securities class action filed on Wednesday, a host of plaintiffs say Voyager Digital chief Stephen Ehrlich and Cuban facilitated and furthered the firm’s “false and misleading promises of reaping large profits in the cryptocurrency market.”

It claims Voyager’s Earn Program Accounts, or EPAs, were unregistered securities the company continued to flog even after seven states banned its sale. Cuban and Ehrlich repeatedly made inflated and false statements about the safety associated with investing in Voyager in order to avoid bankruptcy, according to plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs are pursuing charges for aiding and abetting fraud, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment and violations of several state securities and business laws, and more.

FXStreet

Dogecoin Proponent Mark Cuban Faces Class Action Lawsuit For Promoting Voyager

American billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban was slammed with a lawsuit for leveraging his years of experience to lure customers into investing their savings in Voyager’s services. Cuban is accused of promoting the bankrupt crypto brokerage firm Voyager Digital.

Mark Cuban is popular as a crypto proponent, Dogecoin supporter and billionaire entrepreneur. Cuban is facing a class action lawsuit for promoting crypto product offerings of the bankrupt firm Voyager. The lawsuit alleges that Cuban leveraged his experience to motivate inexperienced customers to invest in Voyager’s crypto products.

The Moskowitz Law Firm filed a civil lawsuit against Cuban in the United States District Court in Southern Florida. The lawsuit alleges that Cuban misrepresented the firm on numerous counts, offering commission-free trading services. Alongside Stephen Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager Digital, Cuban’s comments motivated investors to pour capital into the Ponzi scheme.

The lawsuit reads: Cuban and Ehrlich, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing—in many cases, their life savings—into the Deceptive Voyager Platform and purchasing Voyager Earn Program Accounts (‘EPAs’), which are unregistered securities.

Cuban’s support for Voyager products resulted in multiple purchases by retail investors as Cuban referred to the platform as close to risk-free as you’re gonna get in crypto.

CryptoSlate

Mark Cuban is Getting Sued For Promoting Voyager Digital

Billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, Mark Cuban, is facing a class action lawsuit by Voyager Digital investors and Mavericks fans for promoting Voyager Digital, which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 5, 2022.

According to the plaintiffs, Cuban promoted Voyager Digital to Maverics fans numerous times on different occasions and allegedly took advantage of the inexperienced basketball fans. The lawsuit includes some quotes from Cuban promoting Voyager Digital, including the one where he said:

“I gotta add, I am a [Voyager] customer and I’ve been a customer for several months now. I like to use it, it’s easy, it’s cheap, it’s fast, and the pricing is actually really good, so we find it as a perfect fit for our Mavs fans and reaching Mavs fans of all ages.”

Plaintiffs argue that Cuban introduced Voyager Digital as being commission-free and overall cheaper than its competitors. However, the lawsuit contends that the investors were subjected to hidden fees and unreasonably high prices without realizing it.

Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a few days after Three Arrows Capital (3AC) did. According to Voyager Digital, 3AC owed 15,250 Bitcoins and $350 million USDC to Voyager. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows the firm to remain operational while giving it a chance to re-organize its internal operations and business plans.

When announcing the bankruptcy, Ehrlich pointed ad 3AC’s dept and bearish market conditions as reasons. He also said that the Chapter 11 bankruptcy was a way for Voyager to maximize recovery and was deliberately made by the team before Voyager went beyond the point of being saved.

Watcher News

Mark Cuban Sued by Voyager Digital Investors & Mavericks’ Fans

Billionaire Mark Cuban is getting sued by Voyager Digital investors, and by the fans of his own basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks. The class action lawsuit was filed by The Moskowitz Law Firm at the US District Court in Southern Florida.

According to the suit, the billionaire promoted Voyager Digital to the Dallas Mavericks fans. The lawsuit alleges that Cuban and Voyager Digital CEO Stephen Ehrlich targeted young and inexperienced fans to put their savings into what they are now calling a Ponzi scheme.

Blockworks

Lawsuit Likens Voyager to Ponzi, Sues Mark Cuban For Promotion

A team of Voyager investors allege Mark Cuban helped dupe millions of Americans into investing in a “massive Ponzi scheme.” Voyager targeted amateur investors through youth-forward marketing, according to the lawsuit.

Recent court documents have detailed allegations against billionaire “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban over his relationship with bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital.

Investors claim Cuban and Voyager CEO Steve Ehrlich were key players who personally reached out to potential Voyager customers and convinced them to put money into the “deceptive” platform.

Cuban’s NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks, was also been named as a defendant in the lawsuit, a securities class action complaint filed on Wednesday showed.

The Moskowitz Law Firm lodged a similar class action in December, which was updated with additional allegations in April. That complaint has since been stayed as a result of Voyager’s bankruptcy, leading to a fresh filing.

The claimants have attempted to document both Cuban’s endorsements of Voyager Digital alongside his million-dollar losses associated with failed stablecoin project Iron Finance, which he publicly endorsed just before it crashed entirely.

Voyager filed for bankruptcy in New York on July 5, days after freezing withdrawals on its platform over liquidity issues.

In October last year, as bitcoin hovered around all-time highs, Dallas Mavericks partnered with Voyager to boost brand awareness and drive crypto adoption when enthusiasm around digital assets was already high.

Claimants in the class action describe Voyager as a “massive Ponzi scheme” that relied on support from Cuban and Dallas Mavericks.

“The very public support from the Dallas Mavericks and their owner, Mark Cuban, including their recent massive investment in the Deceptive Voyager Platform, gives a great illustration of how the Voyager Defendants are targeting unsophisticated investors with false and misleading promises of reaping large profits in the cryptocurrency market,” they wrote.

The plaintiffs also allege that Voyager targeted young, inexperienced investors through youth-forward marketing, promises of interest payments on crypto holdings and assurances that customers would receive the best price on trades.

Cointelegraph.com

Mark Cuban Faces Class Action Lawsuit For Promoting Voyager Crypto Products

The lawsuit alleged Mark Cuban misrepresented the crypto offerings and services by Voyager and leveraged his years of experience to lure inexperienced customers into investing their life savings.

Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur who has been quite active in the crypto ecosystem for the past year, is facing a class action lawsuit over his promotions of the bankrupt crypto brokerage firm Voyager Digital.

The Moskowitz Law Firm filed a civil suit in the United States District Court in Southern Florida against Cuban for promoting Voyager’s unregulated crypto products. The lawsuit demanded a jury hearing for the case.

The lawsuit alleged Cuban also misrepresented the firm on numerous occasions, making dubious claims of it being cheaper than competitors and offering “commission-free” trading services. Cuban, along with Voyager Digital CEO Stephen Ehrlich, leveraged their years of experience to lure inexperienced customers into investing their life savings in what they called a Ponzi Scheme, the lawsuit alleges.

An excerpt from the lawsuit read: “Cuban and Ehrlich, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing—in many cases, their life savings—into the Deceptive Voyager Platform and purchasing Voyager Earn Program Accounts (‘EPAs’), which are unregistered securities.”

The lawsuit further alleged that Cuban continued to hype Voyager’s products and push retail investors to invest in it despite knowing it. Cuban went on record calling the Voyager platform “as close to risk-free as you’re gonna get in the crypto.” The lawsuit read: “Voyager Platform relied on Cuban’s and the Dallas Maverick’s vocal support and Cuban’s monetary investment in order to continue to sustain itself until its implosion and Voyager’s subsequent bankruptcy.”

Voyager was one of many crypto lenders to Three Arrows Capital (3AC) that went bust after laters insolvency. The crypto lending firm paused trading activity and withdrawals on July 1 and eventually filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 5. Currently, over 3.5 million American customers have nearly 5 billion dollars in cryptocurrency assets on the platform frozen.

Law360

Mark Cuban Sued Over Voyager Digital Crypto 'Ponzi Scheme'

Shark Tank" personality and entrepreneur Mark Cuban was a key player in luring people into bankrupt cryptocurrency brokerage Voyager Digital's "unregulated and unsustainable fraud" that played out like a Ponzi scheme and cost consumers billions, according to a proposed securities class action filed Wednesday in Florida federal court.

Cuban, along with Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich, personally reached out to investors to trick them into buying the company's unregistered securities and furthered the company's "false and misleading promises of reaping large profits in the cryptocurrency market," according to the complaint that also targets Cuban's Dallas Mavericks basketball team.

"Cuban and Ehrlich ... went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing — in many cases, their life savings — into the deceptive Voyager platform and purchasing Voyager Earn Program Accounts ('EPAs'), which are unregistered securities," the investors said.

WJCT News

Appeals Court Weighs UF Refund Case

An appeals court Wednesday considered whether to allow a potential class action lawsuit that contends the University of Florida should return fees to students because of a campus shutdown early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The university went to the 1st District Court of Appeal after an Alachua County circuit judge refused to dismiss the case. It is one of numerous similar lawsuits in Florida and across the country seeking to recoup money for students who were forced to learn remotely in 2020.

Adam Moskowitz of The Moskowitz Law Firm, an attorney for plaintiff Anthony Rojas, said UF students paid fees for transportation, health-care and athletics services that were not provided because of the shutdown. The lawsuit seeks refunds of money from those fees, not tuition.

Moskowitz said students were required to pay the fees or they couldn’t enroll. He said if students refused to pay, “There is no doubt … they’re kicked out of the school in two seconds. They’re not allowed to stay.”

A key issue in the case is whether the university breached contracts with students by not providing on-campus services. While sovereign immunity generally shields government agencies from lawsuits, it does not provide protection from breach-of-contract claims.

Moskowitz pointed to the requirement that students pay the fees to be able to enroll as evidence of an “express contract” between Rojas and the university. He also said Rojas, who was a graduate student in 2020, has invoices from the university detailing the fees.

“I (Rojas) am paying for those fees. I didn’t get that, so I want a refund back,” Moskowitz said.

“The students are entitled to have something in return for what they’re paying, right, or not?” Makar said. “It sounds like you’re saying, they get what they get.”

The judges also said they were only considering whether the case should be dismissed. If they reject the university’s request, the case would be sent back to circuit court for a trial, where the sides likely would battle more fully about issues such as whether contracts existed.

A panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal on June 1 refused to dismiss a similar lawsuit against the University of South Florida. Meanwhile, the 3rd District Court of Appeal in April ordered the dismissal of a fees-refund case filed against Miami Dade College.

Law360

Cos. Cite Medical Org's Brief Blasting Insurers' 'Junk Science'

A group of businesses suing Erie Insurance Co. over losses from COVID-19 asked a Pennsylvania federal judge to consider a recent amicus brief in a separate case from the New Hampshire Medical Society characterizing arguments that the virus can be easily removed as "junk science."

U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak is considering whether to dismiss the group of businesses' multidistrict litigation against Erie.

At a hearing in May, he appeared skeptical of arguments that the virus physically altered surfaces it attaches to, comparing the virus to a Post-it note that can be easily removed from paper without damaging it.

Daily Business Review

Florida Ponzi Scheme Representative of Disruption In Cryptocurrency Industry, Class Action Attorney Says

A Coral Gables attorney has filed a class action complaint centered around what he says is a “well-orchestrated cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme” that’s exemplary of the scams running rampant in South Florida.

The class action lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, claims the scheme cost vulnerable victims tens of millions of dollars.

Plaintiffs attorney Adam Moskowitz, Managing Partner of The Moskowitz Law Firm, said the suit is against defendants Empires X Corp. and those who operated its web-based platform, Emerson Pires, Flavio Goncalves and Joshua Nicholas.

And that filing comes as politicians released last week what was widely dubbed as the most highly anticipated legislation in the history of the cryptocurrency industry. Moskowitz predicted that the Responsible Financial Innovation Act would inhibit future legal action from holding wrongdoers accountable.

“If you classify cryptocurrency not as securities, you are gutting the power of federal and state regulators from having any power,” Moskowitz said. “They are meant to be securities, but, instead, the cryptocurrency lobby is trying to make them commodities, like pork bellies and orange juice. People in the public need to understand this, so it is not secretly done like the opioid manufacturers.”

The main selling point of Empires X was a trading bot that utilized an algorithm promising investors it would deliver a 1% return on investment each day, according to the complaint. The corporation also touted a “master trader” that was the brains of the operation.

But that master trader was not a former Goldman Sachs alum registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and neither was Empires X, according to the lawsuit. The corporation allegedly falsely claimed to be registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Reserve System and other regulatory organizations like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

o invest, Expires X instructed its users to transfer their funds into a Coinbase Inc. account, which the corporation controlled. Coinbase holds itself as a digital currency wallet and secure online platform in which merchants and consumers transact digital currencies.

And to drive growth in the platform, Empires X ran a referral program similar to a traditional multilevel marketing scheme. The corporation sold a sunny future in which it projected “monthly growth” of 30% and expectations of 6000% total growth by 2023.

Ultimately, Empires X shut down, leaving many in South Florida, particularly the Spanish community, empty-handed.

Moskowitz, who is joined by David Nuñez of Meyer & Nuñez and Herman J. Russomanno of Russomanno and Borrello, sued for one count of breach of fiduciary duty and one count of conversion against Empires X and separately against Pires, Goncalves and Nicholas.

Moskowitz said that like many of these surging cryptocurrency scams in South Florida, those behind the Empires X alleged Ponzi scheme are on the run with their victim’s money, leaving many without their life’s savings and a sense of embarrassment for being duped.

“You really feel for these people,” Moskowitz said, adding that a court-appointed receiver could investigate business records to backtrack the swindled cryptocurrency and “follow the money” to recover the lost capital of those victimized by this alleged Ponzi scheme.

Law360

Florida University Can't Escape COVID Student Fees Case

Florida appeals court judges on Wednesday found that a state university can't use sovereign immunity to shield itself from the early stages of a proposed class action that claims the school improperly collected student fees for on-campus services that it did not provide because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A three-judge panel from the Second District Court of Appeal backed a lower court's refusal to toss ValerieMarie Moore's breach of contract suit against the University of South Florida.

Moore first filed suit in March 2021, saying the university for most of 2020 and early 2021 collected fees for on-campus services that it did not always provide, such as dining and the use of the library. While the school moved student learning out of the classroom and online early in the pandemic, some facilities still remained restricted or closed in spring 2021, according to Moore, whom the complaint identifies as a doctoral student in the university's education school.

Daily Business Review

Class Action Attorneys Seek 8-Figure Damages in South Florida Gas-Line Rupture

A Coral Gables attorney is banking on his prior experience in litigating a Fort Lauderdale main water line break to convince the Broward Circuit Court to grant class certification in an eight-figure case in which a contractor is accused of repeatedly striking a city gas line until its rupture.

Adam Moskowitz, the Managing Partner of The Moskowitz Law Firm, is the lead attorney for the Cook and the Cork Inc. and potentially several dozen additional businesses against Acosta Tractors Inc.

William R. Scherer, a partner at Conrad & Scherer in Fort Lauderdale, and Howard M. Bushman and Joseph M. Kaye, partners at the Moskowitz Law Firm, will also litigate the class action.

Plaintiffs say South Florida businesses are affected nearly every week by the alleged negligent acts of subcontractors, with workers accidentally hitting electrical poles, and breaking gas and water lines.

“In most of these cases, no one ever goes after these culprits to make sure damaged consumers and businesses are properly compensated,” Moskowitz wrote in an email. “This was the third time this contractor ‘accidentally’ hit the gas lines in Coral Springs and all of these locally owned businesses had to shut down. We were contacted by many businesses who rightfully want those responsible to be liable.”

Coral Springs Talk

Coral Springs Restaurants File Lawsuit Alleging Negligence In May Gas Outage

A class action lawsuit was filed this week on behalf of Coral Springs businesses impacted by the May 13 gas line rupture that left at least 120 customers without gas.

The lawsuit is being led by The Cook and The Cork, which represents the other restaurants and retail businesses that “suffered extensive economic damages” due to the gas outage, according to the civil court complaint filed in Broward County.

According to the lawsuit, the gas line rupture was caused by negligence on the part of Acosta Tractors, a company based in Hialeah Gardens.

The company used a type of directional drilling that ruptured the 6-inch gas line on Wiles Road “while blindly drilling underground, without carrying out proper and requisite soft digging” and other safe practices “to ensure the exact physical location of the gas line.”

The outage left at least 120 customers, primarily businesses, without gas service during the busy restaurant dinner rush. Some businesses were still without gas the following day.

Local eateries, including The Cook & the Cork, Wings Plus, and Tavolino Della Notte, were among the restaurants unable to serve the typical number of customers during the outage. Without gas, chefs turned to mobile catering stations and other alternatives to serve hungry customers but lost significant revenue in the process.

The suit, filed by attorneys Adam Moskowitz and William Scherer, seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages in excess of $30,000.

Law360

Post-It Example Challenges Businesses' Sticky Virus Claim

Businesses seeking insurance coverage for pandemic-related losses argued Monday that the COVID-19 virus stuck to surfaces and physically altered them, but a Pennsylvania judge threatened to undercut their argument with office supplies.

During an oral argument Monday, U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak brought out a stack of Post-it notes to demonstrate that what was stuck onto something could easily be pulled off without altering the underlying papers — much as counsel for various insurers had argued that the virus could be removed by cleaning, and therefore didn't meet courts' increasingly common definition of physically damaging the business's premises. 

"I understand that there's a bond affixing it to the surface, but I'm not sure how it's a part of the surface," Judge Hornak said. "Did it make a physical change to the surface?"

Financial Times

$997mn Settlement Reached In Florida Condo Collapse That Killed 98

Relatives of victims of the condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, that killed 98 people last June have reached a $997mn settlement, according to local media reports.

The pending settlement was announced in a Wednesday court hearing in Florida. Developers, insurance companies and an engineering firm are among the defendants in the civil case regarding the Champlain Towers South condo, which was 40 years old when it collapsed.

“It has been an honour helping the class of victims, under the guidance of Harley Tropin and Rachel Furst, and before Judge Michael Hanzman,” Adam Moskowitz, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

In March, a Florida judge approved an $83mn settlement for former condo owners on property damage claims. Wednesday’s settlement compensates those who lost family members.

Law360

Surfside Victims Reach $997M In Settlements

Attorneys representing the victims of the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, announced Wednesday that they had secured $997 million in proposed settlements, ending the consolidated claims against all but one defendant.

"The result that has been achieved in this case and the speed with which it has been achieved is beyond extraordinary," the judge said. "If the right people were not running this case, this could have turned into a decade-long slog."

The $997 million figure includes some settlements that had already been announced, like deals with the condominium association's law firm, Becker & Poliakoff PA, and Morabito Consultants Inc., the engineering firm that had inspected the building in 2018 as part of its required 40-year certification process.

Yahoo Finance

Voyager Digital Hit with Unregistered Crypto Sales Lawsuit

Voyager Digital Joins a Growing List of Platforms Facing Charges

This week, news hit the wires of Voyager Digital getting hit with new allegations of selling unregistered securities via its Voyager Earn Program.

On Thursday, lawyers Adam Moskowitz and Stuart Grossman filed a complaint in a Miami federal court. The lawyers claim that Voyager Digital should have registered its Voyager Earn Program, which offers rewards on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USD Coin (USDC), among other cryptos, with the SEC.

The Voyager Earn Program allows users to stack an earn on over 40+ assets. Stackers can earn tiered rewards based on how much they hold. Tiered annual percentage yields (APY) can go as high as 12%, while the platform offers APYs of as much as 9% for stacking USDC.

The lawyers originally filed a complaint against Voyager Digital in December on behalf of Florida resident Mark Cassidy alleging the firm charged hidden fees and made false promises. Within the new claim, the lawyers also highlighted steps taken by the SEC against the crypto firm.

Coincu

Voyager Digital Is Being Sued For Unregistered Cryptocurrency Sales

A lawsuit has been filed against US crypto exchange Voyager Digital for selling unregistered securities. The complaint comes after many regulatory actions aimed at limiting the use of crypto-yielding schemes.

Voyager Digital was faced with additional claims of selling unregistered securities via its Voyager Earn Program this week, according to news reports.

Attorneys Adam Moskowitz and Stuart Grossman filed a case in federal court in Miami on Thursday. According to the lawyers, Voyager Digital should have filed its Voyager Earn Program with the SEC, which offers incentives in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USD Coin (USDC), among other cryptos.

Users can stack an earn on over 40 assets with the Voyager Earn Program. Stackers can earn different levels of rewards depending on how much they can hold. Tiered annual percentage yields (APY) can reach as high as 12%, with APYs as high as 9% for stacking USDC on the platform.

In December, the attorneys filed a case against Voyager Digital on behalf of Florida resident Mark Cassidy, saying that the company charged hidden fees and made deceptive promises. The lawyers also mentioned the SEC’s actions against the crypto business in the new claim.

CryptoDaily

Voyager The Latest Crypto Lending Platform To Suffer Lawsuit

US-based Voyager Digital is preparing to face litigation over its crypto yield product. The lawsuit is regarding allegations that Voyager Digital has been selling unregistered securities in its Earn program. This is the latest in a line of crypto platforms to face charges over providing yield to retail investors.

Voyager has also been hit with cease and desist orders from the state securities divisions of Kentucky, Indiana, New Jersey, and Oklahoma, for allowing residents of those areas to earn yield on the cryptocurrencies they hold on the platform.

Blogdady

Voyager Digital Hit with Unregistered Crypto Gross sales Lawsuit

This week, information hit the wires of Voyager Digital getting hit with new allegations of promoting unregistered securities by way of its Voyager Earn Program.

On Thursday, attorneys Adam Moskowitz and Stuart Grossman filed a criticism in a Miami federal court docket. The attorneys declare that Voyager Digital ought to have registered its Voyager Earn Program, which affords rewards on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USD Coin (USDC), amongst different cryptos, with the SEC.

The Voyager Earn Program permits customers to stack an earn on over 40+ belongings. Stackers can earn tiered rewards based mostly on how a lot they maintain. Tiered annual share yields (APY) can go as excessive as 12%, whereas the platform affords APYs of as a lot as 9% for stacking USDC.

The attorneys initially filed a criticism in opposition to Voyager Digital in December on behalf of Florida resident Mark Cassidy alleging the agency charged hidden charges and made false guarantees. Inside the new declare, the attorneys additionally highlighted steps taken by the SEC in opposition to the crypto agency.

Earlier this 12 months, US states issued Voyager Digital with stop and desist orders over the providing of crypto-yielding merchandise. These included the states of Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Oklahoma.

Blockworks

Updated Lawsuit Alleges Voyager Digital Sold Unregistered Crypto Securities

Attorneys have made fresh allegations in a class action lawsuit against Voyager Digital, claiming the cryptocurrency company sold unregistered securities in the form of interest-earning crypto accounts. The original complaint filed in December alleged that the firm charged hidden fees and made false promises.

Another complaint, filed Thursday in a Miami federal court by lawyers Adam Moskowitz and Stuart Grossman, includes a report detailing why the Voyager Earn Program — allowing users to earn rewards on bitcoin, ether, USDC and other cryptoassets — should have been registered with the SEC.

The document also refutes Voyager’s claims that the Florida court does not have jurisdiction over the company, as the defendants of the class action complaint are vying for a jury trial.

Additionally, the document spotlights related actions taken by the SEC and state officials in the months after the original complaint was filed Dec. 24 on behalf of Florida resident Mark Cassidy.

Class action attorney Adam Moskowitz says he hopes the court resolves Voyager’s “continued attempts to simply walk away from our case.”

“We hope that after the court resolves Voyager’s continued attempts to simply walk away from our case, we can quickly seek certification for all of Voyager’s customers that all have the same rewards accounts, and finally require Voyager to comply with the state and federal rules,” Moskowitz said.

The company reported completing roughly 36 million consumer crypto transactions and reaching $5.5 billion in net new retail deposits since inception, as of March 31.

Law360

Attys Say Pa. High Court Next Step In Virus Coverage Debate

When COVID-19 coverage suits began popping up across the country, there was a push by some law firms to create a global multidistrict litigation to resolve the insurance issues. But because there were different carriers and policies involved, those efforts didn't come into fruition.

Hillary Ladov, partner in the Philadelphia office of Goldberg Segalla, who represents insurance carriers, told Law360 that it was best to have avoided a global MDL for all COVID-19 coverage cases.

"It made more sense to go through one by one unless you had a case like [the Erie MDL] where there were a lot of claims in litigation against one carrier," she added. "Policyholders tried to use a court procedure to expedite the process and I don't think they moved any faster or slower."

Daily Business Review

New Immunity Statute Didn't Save Nova Southeastern University From Pending Class Action Lawsuit

A federal judge in Fort Lauderdale ruled that Nova Southeastern University must defend a class action lawsuit seeking multimillion-dollar damages, and that the school’s attempt to rely upon a newly enacted statute to retroactively shield itself from the matter was unconstitutional.

Adam Moskowitz, the managing partner at The Moskowitz Law Firm, said he had the first litigated tuition reimbursement case in the country, referring to a January 2022 ruling by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas in a case involving Florida International University.

In that case, Thomas shot down arguments from FlU’s counsel, who had said the court should shield their client from the class action lawsuit under “sovereign immunity,” a concept in which governmental entities are immune from suit.

Moskowitz said, “As more colleges across the country resolve these same cases each week, such as Rutgers University last week, we need to ask why our Florida education leaders continue to pay outside lawyers our taxpayer dollars, instead of simply reimbursing our own students that are in desperate need of such funds.”

Miami’s Community Newspapers

FIU Students Sue University for Pandemic Fees

FIU students are back on campus with a new semester, new classes and a lawsuit against the university seeking reimbursement for services they couldn’t access in 2020.

The lawsuit, which was filed by two students last April, seeks refunds for fees paid during the pandemic for services that students couldn’t use like transportation, parking and athletic facilities.

Although FIU filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in August, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge William Thomas refused to do so on Dec. 30 and certified it as a class action lawsuit.

“We’re very pleased with Judge Thomas’s order,” said Howard Bushman, partner at The Moskowitz Law Firm representing FIU students in the case. “The school shut down, and students weren’t provided the services to which these fees were supposed to provide.”

This week, FIU appealed the decision. If the university’s appeal is unsuccessful, the case will either go to settlement or trial.

The lawsuit intends to regain over $10 million collected in service fees from FIU students during 2020.

“We’re seeking the return of the fees charged to students that students paid during the 2020 school year,” said Bushman. “A portion of the fees for spring 2020, all the fees for summer 2020, and fees for fall 2020 services that the students were not provided.”

If the student plaintiffs succeed, the class action lawsuit will benefit all individuals who were enrolled in FIU during 2020.

“[If] judgment is entered, or settlement is accomplished, everybody will receive their pro-rata amounts,” said Bushman.

According to law.com, this is the first litigated tuition reimbursement case in the U.S. and could be worth more than $100 million for eligible Florida students.

Law360

Surfside Collapse Trial Pushed To Spring 2023

The Florida judge overseeing consolidated litigation over the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside agreed Wednesday to push back a trial in the proposed class suit brought by victims to March 2023.

During a status conference held on Zoom, Eleventh Circuit Judge Michael A. Hanzman in Miami-Dade County reluctantly said he would extend the trial date by six months to March 2023 after hearing from attorneys for defendants who said their experts would not be done with their investigation until December.

So far, the plaintiffs have sued the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association; its longtime legal counsel from Becker & Poliakoff PA; the engineering firm Morabito Consultants Inc., which was hired to review the building's structure; and the builders of Eighty Seven Park.

Daily Business Review

Class Certification Granted Against FIU in Litigation Over Student Reimbursement Due to Pandemic

A Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge certified what a Coral Gables attorney said is the first litigated tuition reimbursement case in the country—and one that could result in more than $100 million for Florida students.

That hurdle was not easy for plaintiff counsel to overcome.

Adam Moskowitz, the Managing Partner at The Moskowitz Law Firm, represents Rebecca Alexander and similarly situated students in the underlying case. The students attended Florida International University when its campus was shut down in the spring and summer semesters of 2020, due to social distancing measures stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Florida International University Florida International University

“I told the Florida Board of Governors more than two years ago to just work with us and credit the money back to those students (like other states), and we would have taken no attorney fees,” Moskowitz said in an email. “But instead, they sent us letters threatening us with sanctions, for allegedly bringing baseless cases.”

The latest development in the dispute involved Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas, who refused to grant FIU’s motion to dismiss, and ruled in the order that the thousands of students suing the defendant “adequately plead the existence of an express contract between themselves and FIU.”

In his ruling, the judge of the complex litigation section pointed to students providing proof that they’d paid fees for services, which FIU had failed to provide, such as an “athletic fee” or a “transportation access fee.”

The Florida Defense Lawyers Association claimed in an amicus brief in support of the Miami-Dade College’s argument that an unfavorable ruling on sovereign immunity would have far-ranging implications for Florida institutions and other governmental entities.

But they appeared to have failed in arguing that “disaffected citizens” could file “class action litigation seeking hundreds of millions of dollars” in “just about anything to demonstrate an express, written contract—a permit, a license, a parking meter receipt.”

Instead, Thomas ruled that sovereign immunity did not protect the Sunshine State from an action for breach of an express contract under Florida law. He then denied Miami-Dade College’s motion to dismiss, and stayed the case, pending a Third District Court of Appeal ruling.

Now, Thomas has cleared the way for the FIU-certified class action—in which plaintiff counsel alleged students were improperly bilked out of $11 million in fees—to head to trial in the Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

Meanwhile, Moskowitz, who represents students at 12 Florida public schools, argued it is important for the public to become aware of how colleges in the Sunshine State are using their tax dollars.

In an email, he contrasted the Florida schools with the colleges and universities in Georgia, which have instead agreed to reimburse students for services they claimed they did not receive.

Moskowitz said, “Hopefully, the volunteers on our state board of governors will now follow many other states and simply refund students all of these stolen charges, instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on defense law firms.”

WFOR CBS 4

Judge Clears Way for Lawsuit Over FIU Fees

A Miami-Dade County circuit judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Florida International University that seeks refunds of fees collected from students when the school’s campus was shut down in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Judge William Thomas, in a 23-page order Thursday, also certified the lawsuit as a class action.

The students argued that the university breached contracts when it did not deliver the services.

The lawsuit, filed in April on behalf of students who attended FIU during the spring, summer and fall of 2020 alleged that the students paid fees like an “athletic fee,” a “health fee” and a “transportation access fee.”

“Despite substantially reducing or eliminating the services and access to facilities funded by the fees during these semesters, FIU continued to charge students each fee and has not reimbursed students for the portion of their spring 2020 fees that are attributable to the time when the campuses were closed, nor for the amounts that students paid during the remaining semesters in 2020,” Thomas wrote in the order.

Adam Moskowitz, an attorney representing the students, said in a statement Monday that the lawsuit aims to recover more than $10 million collected from FIU students. Moskowitz also pointed to 12 other class action lawsuits filed in Florida because of schools refusing to reimburse fees.

In October, an Alachua County circuit judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit that contended the University of Florida should refund fees to students who were forced to learn remotely during 2020.

Moskowitz in his statement Monday urged the state university system’s Board of Governors to issue refunds to all university students who paid fees during the 2020 academic year, rather than fight the lawsuit.

“Hopefully, the volunteers on our State Board of Governors will now follow many other states and simply refund students all of these stolen charges, instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on defense law firms,” Moskowitz said.

WLRN

Miami-Dade Judge Clears The Way For Lawsuit Over Florida International University Fees

News Service Florida

Judge Clears Way for Lawsuit Over FIU Fees

The Miami Herald

Miami Judge Clears Way For Lawsuit Against FIU Over Student Fees Collected Amid Pandemic

A Miami-Dade County circuit judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Florida International University that seeks refunds of fees collected from students when the school’s campus was shut down in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Judge William Thomas, in a 23-page order Thursday, also certified the lawsuit as a class action.

He wrote that students suing the university “adequately plead the existence of an express contract between themselves and FIU,” in part by producing proof that they paid fees associated with services that weren’t provided by the school.

The students argued that the university breached contracts when it did not deliver the services.

The lawsuit, filed in April on behalf of students who attended FIU during the spring, summer and fall of 2020, alleged that the students paid fees like an “athletic fee,” a “health fee” and a “transportation access fee.”

Adam Moskowitz, an attorney representing the students, said in a statement Monday that the lawsuit aims to recover more than $10 million collected from FIU students. Moskowitz also pointed to 12 other class action lawsuits filed in Florida because of schools refusing to reimburse fees.

In October, an Alachua County circuit judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit that contended the University of Florida should refund fees to students who were forced to learn remotely during 2020.

Attorneys representing UF appealed the decision in November to the 1st District Court of Appeal, arguing that the university should be shielded from the lawsuit by “sovereign immunity,” which helps protect government agencies in legal disputes.

Florida International University used a similar argument in its attempt to get the Miami-Dade lawsuit dismissed.

Moskowitz in his statement Monday urged the state university system’s Board of Governors to issue refunds to all university students who paid fees during the 2020 academic year, rather than fight the lawsuit.

“Hopefully, the volunteers on our State Board of Governors will now follow many other states and simply refund students all of these stolen charges, instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on defense law firms,” Moskowitz said.