HSC Medical Inc. v. Masters

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedApril 17, 2023
Docket6:21-cv-01022
StatusUnknown

This text of HSC Medical Inc. v. Masters (HSC Medical Inc. v. Masters) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
HSC Medical Inc. v. Masters, (M.D. Fla. 2023).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA ORLANDO DIVISION

BGX E-HEALTH LLC,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No: 6:21-cv-1022-WWB-LHP

DARREN NEIL MASTERS, GRANITE INVESTMENT GLOBAL US LLC, SN- SCP LLC and CW FINANCIAL CONSULTING LLC,

Defendants

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION TO THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT:

This cause came on for consideration without oral argument on the following motion filed herein: MOTION: PLAINTIFF, BGX E-HEALTH LLC’S THIRD RENEWED MOTION FOR FINAL DEFAULT JUDGMENT (Doc. No. 57) FILED: January 23, 2023

THEREON it is RECOMMENDED that the motion be GRANTED. I. BACKGROUND. On June 15, 2021, Plaintiff BGX E-Health LLC (“Plaintiff”) filed a complaint

against Defendants Darren Neil Masters (“Masters”), John Lumley (“Lumley”), Granite Investment Global US LLC (“Granite”); SN-SCP LLC (“SN-SCP”); CW Financial Consulting LLC (“CW”), and Blue Triangle Capital LLC (“Blue”),

(collectively, the “SN Defendants”), as well as Paulo Jorge Meirim Rodrigues Branco (“Branco”), PBI Commodity Traders LTD (“PBI Traders”), and PBI Commodity Brokers K2018447557 (“PBI Brokers”) (collectively, the “PBI Defendants”). Doc. No. 1. The complaint asserts claims against all Defendants

for unjust enrichment (Count I) and money had and received (Count II). Id. at 5– 7. The complaint alleges that the PBI Defendants worked with Plaintiff to broker a deal between Plaintiff and the SN Defendants, by which Plaintiff deposited

$11,564,520.00 in SN-SCP’s bank account as payment for the purchase of medical goods. Id. ¶¶ 13–15. Shortly thereafter, SN-SCP, without authorization, distributed the funds to the PBI Defendants and SN Defendants, and both the PBI Defendants and the SN Defendants failed to provide the purchased medical goods

to Plaintiff in return. Id. ¶¶ 16–17. Plaintiff has demanded return of the funds, to no avail. Id. ¶¶ 18–20. Plaintiff alleges that the PBI Defendants and the SN Defendants have taken and utilized the funds for unauthorized purposes or sent

the funds outside of the United States. Id. ¶ 20. Since the filing of the complaint, Plaintiff has voluntarily dismissed its claims against several Defendants without prejudice, including all of the PBI Defendants

and some of the SN Defendants. Doc. Nos. 37, 39, 56, 58. The only Defendants remaining include Masters, Granite, SN-SCP, and CW. In the complaint, Plaintiff alleges that Masters is the sole member of Granite, SN-SCP, and CW. Doc. No. 1

¶¶ 5–7.1 Masters, Granite, SN-SCP, and CW were each served with a summons and the complaint. Doc. Nos. 16–19. But none of these Defendants timely appeared or responded. On Plaintiff’s motion, Clerk’s defaults were entered against them.

Doc. Nos. 21–25. Masters filed a pro se motion to set aside the defaults on behalf of each of these Defendants, but the undersigned denied that motion without prejudice for failure to comply with the Local Rules and because Masters could not

represent the interests of the business entities and other Defendants pro se. Doc. Nos. 30–31. A renewed motion was never filed, and thus, Masters, Granite, SN- SCP, and CW are still subject to Clerk’s defaults. See Doc. Nos. 22–25.

1 Subsequent briefing demonstrated that CW had two members at the time the complaint was filed, Masters and Thomas Ledbetter, which is addressed infra. See Doc. No. 57, at 8–9; Doc. No. 45, at 7–8. Now before the Court is Plaintiff’s third renewed request for default judgment against Masters, Granite, SN-SCP, and CW. Doc. No. 57.2 The matter

has been referred to the undersigned, and it is ripe for review.3 II. STANDARD OF REVIEW. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure establish a two-step process for

obtaining default judgment. First, when a party against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought fails to plead or otherwise defend as provided by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and that fact is made to appear by affidavit or otherwise, the Clerk enters default. Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). Second, after obtaining

clerk’s default, the plaintiff must move for default judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b). Before entering default judgment, the court must ensure that it has jurisdiction over the claims and parties, and that the well pleaded factual allegations of the

complaint, which are assumed to be true, adequately state a claim for which relief may be granted. See Nishimatsu Constr. Co. v. Houston Nat’l Bank, 515 F.2d 1200,

2 The undersigned denied Plaintiff’s previous motions for default judgment without prejudice for various reasons, including failure to establish both subject matter jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship and personal jurisdiction, and failure to adequately address the claims for which Plaintiff sought default judgment. See Doc. Nos. 29, 35, 38, 43–45. As discussed below, Plaintiff has rectified these deficiencies by the present motion against the 4 remaining Defendants. 3 No party has responded to the motion, however it appears that the motion was not served on any parties given the lack of a certificate of service. Doc. No. 57. This is of no moment, as Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(a)(2) provides that service of motions is not required upon a party that is in default for failure to appear. 1206 (5th Cir. 1975) (“The defendant is not held to admit facts that are not well-pleaded or to admit conclusions of law.”).4 Therefore, in considering a

motion for default judgment, a court must “examine the sufficiency of plaintiff’s allegations to determine whether plaintiff is entitled to” a default judgment. Fid. & Deposit Co. of Md. v. Williams, 699 F. Supp. 897, 899 (N.D. Ga. 1988).

A complaint need not contain detailed factual allegations, “but it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation. A pleading that offers ‘labels and conclusions’ or ‘a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)

(quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). This analysis applies equally to motions for default judgment. De Lotta v. Dezenzo’s Italian Rest., Inc., No. 6:08-cv-2033-Orl-22KRS, 2009 WL 4349806, at *5 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 24, 2009)

(citations omitted). If the plaintiff is entitled to default judgment, then the Court must consider whether the plaintiff is entitled to the relief requested in the motion for default

judgment. If the plaintiff seeks damages, the plaintiff bears the burden of demonstrating entitlement to recover the amount of damages sought in the motion

4 The Eleventh Circuit adopted as binding precedent all Fifth Circuit decisions prior to October 1, 1981. See Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir. 1981) (en banc). for default judgment. Wallace v. The Kiwi Grp., Inc., 247 F.R.D. 679, 681 (M.D. Fla. 2008). Ordinarily, unless a plaintiff’s claim against a defaulting defendant is for a

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