CGC Holding Co. v. Hutchens

896 F. Supp. 2d 970, 2012 WL 2589257, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92361
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedJuly 3, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 11-cv-01012-RBJ-KLM
StatusPublished

This text of 896 F. Supp. 2d 970 (CGC Holding Co. v. Hutchens) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
CGC Holding Co. v. Hutchens, 896 F. Supp. 2d 970, 2012 WL 2589257, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92361 (D. Colo. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER on PENDING MOTIONS — No. 2

R. BROOKE JACKSON, District Judge.

This order addresses six pending motions.

Facts

Briefly, plaintiffs allege that defendant Sandy Hutchens was the mastermind of a loan fraud scheme designed to extract mo[972]*972nies from victims in the United States. The other defendants are alleged to have been participants in the implementation of the scheme. Plaintiffs, who applied for loans that were never made, allege that they were duped into advancing substantial loan processing fees which were not refunded when the scheme was discovered. Plaintiffs initially asserted five claims for relief: (1) violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1961 et seq.; (2) conversion; (3) negligent misrepresentation; (4) constructive trust; and (5) unjust enrichment.

In an order issued November 1, 2011 the Court resolved a number of motions then pending.

Defendants H. Jan Luistermans’ and Reality 1 Real Estate Services LTD.’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ First, Second and Fourth Claims for Relief for Failure to State a Claim Upon Which Relief May Be Granted [# 153]: DENIED AS MOOT.

This motion was rendered moot by the filing of plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint [# 175].

Defendants Alvin Meisels’ and Blaney McMurtry LLP’s Motion for Certification of Order of Interlocutory Review [#161]: DENIED.

A district court may state in writing that it is “of the opinion that [an order] involves a controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion and that an immediate appeal from the order may materially advance the ultimate termination of the litigation.” 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). If this is done, then the Court of Appeals may, in its discretion, permit an appeal from the order to be taken. Id.

These defendants argue that “extraterritorial application of RICO is a controlling question of law that will materially advance the termination of this litigation.” Motion [# 161] at 4. This Court did not conclude that RICO applies extraterritorially. Rather, after considering Morrison and the other cases on which defendants rely, the Court agreed that RICO does not apply extraterritorially. November 1, 2011 order [# 149] at 25. However, the Court found that the facts alleged in this case do not involve an extraterritorial application of RICO, even though the defendants reside in Canada. Id. at 22-25. In the process of reaching that result I considered, discussed, and distinguished the cases on which defendants rely, i.e., Morrison v. Nat’l Australia Bank Ltd., — U.S. -, 130 S.Ct. 2869, 177 L.Ed.2d 535 (2010), Norex Petroleum Limited v. Access Industries, Inc., 631 F.3d 29 (2d Cir.2010) and United States v. Philip Morris USA Inc., 783 F.Supp.2d 23 (D.D.C.2011). Id. In a recent telephone hearing counsel indicated that they were aware of no new relevant decisions that have come down after my order was issued.

The Tenth Circuit could reasonably disagree with my application of the alleged facts to the undisputed law. I also agree that if the Tenth Circuit were to conclude that these facts do involve an extraterritorial application of RICO, then the RICO claim (but not all claims) against these defendants would be dismissed. However, I am sufficiently comfortable with my decision that I do not believe this is the exception to the proposition that appeals should be taken from final judgments, not piecemeal.

Defendants Alvin Meisels’ and Blaney McMurtry LLP’s Motion to Dismiss [#181]: DENIED.

These defendants previously filed [# 86], and the Court denied, a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon [973]*973which relief could be granted under Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). That motion was based on the extraterritorial application of RICO. These defendants purported to “reserve the right” to file another rule 12(b)(6) motion “addressing deficiencies in the Complaint” if the first motion failed. Id. at 2. This Court does not entertain multiple Rule 12(b)(6) motions filed seriatim.

Defendant Carl Romano’s Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction [# 186]: DENIED.

Mr. Romano was added to the case in plaintiffs Amended Complaint [# 175], He, like defendant Gaché, is a partner in defendant Broad and Cassel, a Florida law firm. Plaintiffs allege that Mr. Romano, Mr. Gaché and defendant Meisels, a Canadian lawyer, made false and misleading representations regarding the bona fides of Sandy Hutchens and his entities. They knew, but knew that plaintiffs did not know, about Mr. Hutchens’ background. They knew that Mr. Hutchens and Jennifer Hutchens were not using their true names, and that their use of aliases would hinder plaintiffs’ ability to conduct due diligence on them. They allegedly knew or were willfully ignorant of the fact that Hutchens’ entities CFC, FCMF and 308 Elgin lacked the capacity to make the loans to which they had committed. They allegedly knew or were recklessly indifferent to the fact that the three entities had not, as had been represented, closed “hundreds of loans.” Id. ¶¶ 51-52. Plaintiffs set forth additional allegations concerning only the Florida lawyers in 11 paragraphs quoted verbatim below in the Court’s discussion of motion # 187.

The Court addressed the Mr. Gaché and his law firm’s jurisdictional motion in its November 1, 2011 order [# 149]. The jurisdictional question when a federal statute conveys nationwide service therefore is whether the exercise of jurisdiction comports with due process. Peay v. Bell-South Medical Assistance Plan, 205 F.3d 1206, 1209 (10th Cir.2000). RICO conveys nationwide service of process. “When a civil RICO action is brought in a district court where personal jurisdiction can be established over at least one defendant, summonses can be served nationwide on other defendants if required by the ends of justice.” Cory v. Aztec Steel Bldg., Inc., 468 F.3d 1226, 1231 (10th Cir.2006). Here, per the Court’s previous order, personal jurisdiction can be established over several other defendants.

With respect to due process, “[t]he burden is on the defendant to show that the exercise of jurisdiction in the chosen forum will ‘make litigation so gravely difficult and inconvenient that [he] unfairly is at a severe disadvantage in comparison to his opponent.’ ” Id. at 1212. The court listed five factors to be considered regarding the level of inconvenience, adding that inconvenience would rise to a level of constitutional concern “only in highly unusual cases.” Id.

This Court applied the five factors to the facts concerning Mr. Gaché and Broad and Cassel and denied the motion for the reasons there stated. Id. at 20-22. Mr. Romano acknowledges that his jurisdictional arguments are similar.

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Related

Salinas v. United States
522 U.S. 52 (Supreme Court, 1997)
Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd.
561 U.S. 247 (Supreme Court, 2010)
Peay v. BellSouth Medical Assistance Plan
205 F.3d 1206 (Tenth Circuit, 2000)
Cory v. Aztec Steel Building, Inc.
468 F.3d 1226 (Tenth Circuit, 2006)
In Re Edmonds
924 F.2d 176 (Tenth Circuit, 1991)
United States v. Philip Morris USA, Inc.
783 F. Supp. 2d 23 (District of Columbia, 2011)
Norex Petroleum Ltd. v. Access Industries, Inc.
631 F.3d 29 (Second Circuit, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
896 F. Supp. 2d 970, 2012 WL 2589257, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cgc-holding-co-v-hutchens-cod-2012.