Federal Trade Commission v. AMG Services, Inc.

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided September 3, 2021·No. 2:12-cv-00536·Unknown

Opinion

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, ) Case Nos.: 2:12-cv-00536-GMN-VCF1 ) 2:18-cv-01813-GMN-DJA Plaintiff, ) 2:18-cv-02281-GMN-VCF vs. ) 2:17-cv-02966-GMN-NJK ) 2:17-cv-02967-GMN-BNW AMG SERVICES, INC., et al., ) 2:17-cv-02968-GMN-NJK ) 2:17-cv-02969-GMN-DJA Defendants. ) ) SECOND AMENDED ORDER2 Pending before the Court is a Motion for Summary Judgment, (ECF No. 900), filed by Defendants Park 269, LLC (“Park 269”) and Kim C. Tucker (“Kim Tucker”) (collectively 1 This Second Amended Order amends ECF Nos. 1147 and 1057 in Case No. 2:12-cv-00536-GMN-VCF. However, the Second Amended Order will also be filed in Case Nos. 2:18-cv-01813-GMN-DJA, 2:18-cv-02281- GMN-VCF, 2:17-cv-02966-GMN-NJK, 2:17-cv-02967-GMN-BNW, 2:17-cv-02968-GMN-NJK, and 2:12-cv- 02969-GMN-DJA because the Second Amended Order lifts the stays in those cases. 2 In the first Amended Order, (ECF No. 1147), the Court clarified that its original Order, (ECF No. 1057), of September 30, 2016, in no way implicates Defendants Nereyda Tucker, as Executor of the Estate of Blaine Tucker, or LeadFlash Consulting, LLC. The first Amended Order did not alter any deadlines set by the original Order, nor did the Amended Order constitute a re-entry of judgment against any defendant.

This Second Amended Order amends Discussion Section III.F.2 of its original Order, (ECF No. 1057), and First Amended Order, (ECF No. 1147), to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision in AMG Capital Mgmt., LLC v. FTC, 141 S. Ct. 1341 (2021), and the Ninth Circuit’s subsequent mandate reversing this Court’s award of equitable monetary relief to the FTC. Therefore, the Second Amended Order GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the FTC’s Motion for Summary Judgment, and GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the Tucker Defendants’ and the Relief Defendants’ (collectively, “Defendants’”) Motions for Summary Judgment. Finally, because the parties agreed to stay the FTC’s collection of its monetary award during the pendency of appeal and jointly moved this Court to appoint a Monitor “to preserve the status quo during the pendency of the appeal, and to facilitate the liquidation of assets that absent such liquidation would waste in value during the pendency of appeal,” in Discussion Section III.G., the Second Amended Order includes provisions for the disposition of non- forfeited assets in the Monitorship Estate in preparation for its wind-down, now that the appeal has concluded. (See Order Appointing Monitor (“Monitor Order”) 2:6–8, ECF No. 1099). The Second Amended Order does not alter any deadlines set by the original Order, although it does impose new deadlines in relation to the wind-down of the Monitorship. “Relief Defendants”).3 Plaintiff Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed a Response, (ECF No. 938), and the Relief Defendants filed a Reply, (ECF No. 949). Also pending before the Court is a Motion for Summary Judgment, (ECF No. 913), filed by Defendants AMG Capital Management, LLC (“AMG Capital”); Level 5 Motorsports, LLC (“Level 5”); Black Creek Capital Corporation (“Black Creek”); Broadmoor Capital Partners (“Broadmoor”); and Scott A. Tucker (“Scott Tucker”) (collectively “Tucker Defendants”).4 The FTC filed a Response, (ECF No. 940), and the Tucker Defendants filed a Reply, (ECF No. 950). Also pending before the Court is a Motion for Summary Judgment, (ECF No. 907), filed by the FTC. The Relief Defendants filed a Response, (ECF No. 935), as did the Tucker Defendants, (ECF No. 941). The FTC filed a Reply, (ECF No. 952). For the reasons discussed below, the Court GRANTS in part and DENIES in part5 FTC’s Motion and GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the Tucker Defendants’ and Relief Defendants’ (collectively “Defendants”) Motions.6 3 The original Order, (ECF No. 1057), and the First Amended Order, (ECF No. 1147), erroneously identified the Motion for Summary Judgment, (ECF No. 900), as being filed by the Tucker Defendants. The Second Amended Order corrects this error because the Relief Defendants filed the Motion for Summary Judgment, (ECF No. 900). 4 As per the Court’s Order of September 20, 2016, the instant Order does not implicate Defendants Nereyda Tucker, as Executor of the Estate of Blaine Tucker, or LeadFlash Consulting, LLC. (See Order, ECF No. 1054).

5 The previous iterations of this Order, (ECF Nos. 1057 and 1147), granted the FTC’s Motion for Summary Judgement and denied as moot Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment. However, because the Court is not awarding equitable monetary relief to the FTC, the Second Amended Order now denies FTC’s Motion for Summary Judgment to the extent that it requests equitable monetary relief and grants Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment to the extent that they oppose an award of equitable monetary relief to the FTC.

6 Also pending before the Court are three Motions to Reconsider filed by the Tucker Defendants. (See ECF Nos. 850, 963, 975). Two of these motions relate to orders entered by Magistrate Judge Cam Ferenbach. “A district judge may reconsider any pretrial matter referred to a magistrate judge in a civil . . . case . . . where it has been shown that the magistrate judge’s ruling is clearly erroneous or contrary to law.” LR IB 3–1. A magistrate judge’s pretrial order issued under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A) is not subject to de novo review, and the reviewing court “may not simply substitute its judgment for that of the deciding court.” Grimes v. City and County of San Francisco, 951 F.2d 236, 241 (9th Cir. 1991). The Court may overturn the magistrate judge’s decision if, upon review, the Court is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. See David H. Tedder & Assocs. v. United States, 77 F.3d 1166, 1169–70 (9th Cir. 1996). This action was brought by the FTC, asserting that the “high-fee, short-term payday loans” offered by former Defendants AMG Services, Inc. (“AMG”), SFS, Inc. (“SFS”), Red Cedar Services, Inc. (“Red Cedar”), and MNE Services, Inc. (“MNE”) (collectively “Lending Defendants”) violated section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914, 15 § U.S.C. 45(a)(1), the Truth in Lending Act of 1968, 15 U.S.C. § 1601(a), and Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. § 1026(a). (Am. Compl. 15:1–20:6, ECF No. 386). The FTC has filed its Motion for Summary Judgment against the only remaining parties that did not settle the claims against them. The remaining defendants are AMG Capital, Level 5, Black Creek, and Broadmoor (collectively “Corporate Lending Defendants”) as well as Scott Tucker. The FTC seeks injunctive relief against Scott Tucker and equitable monetary relief from the Corporate Lending Defendants and Scott Tucker. The FTC also seeks disgorgement from the Relief Defendants. A. Factual History7 Scott Tucker controlled, founded, or was president of a host of short-term payday loan marketing and servicing companies, including, inter alia, National Money Service, Inc. The most recently filed Motion, (ECF No. 975), asks the Court to reconsider its Asset Freeze Order, (ECF No. 960). Because the Court grants the FTC’s request for equitable monetary relief, infra, the Court DENIES this Motion as moot. Similarly, Defendants’ first Motion to Reconsider, (ECF No. 850), is DENIED as moot in light of the instant Order. In this Motion, Defendants raise a multitude of objections to Magistrate Judge Ferenbach’s Order, (ECF No. 849), regarding discovery issues. Even if the Court were to grant this Motion, the result of the instant Order would remain unchanged given the wealth of evidence establishing Defendants’ liability.

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Federal Trade Commission v. AMG Services, Inc., (D. Nev. 2021).

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