Securities & Exchange Commission v. Spinosa

31 F. Supp. 3d 1371, 2014 WL 2938487, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88697
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedJune 30, 2014
DocketCase No. 13-62066-CIV
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 31 F. Supp. 3d 1371 (Securities & Exchange Commission v. Spinosa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Securities & Exchange Commission v. Spinosa, 31 F. Supp. 3d 1371, 2014 WL 2938487, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88697 (S.D. Fla. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

KENNETH A. MARRA, District Judge.

This cause is before the Court upon Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint. (DE 9). Plaintiff responded. (DE 13). Defendant did not file a reply, and the time to do so has expired. The Court has considered the briefing and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.

I. Background

This case relates to the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by now-convicted Scott Roth-stein (“Rothstein”). The operative Amended Complaint alleges that the scheme was perpetrated through the sale of fake discounted settlements which Roth-stein ran through his law firm Rothstein, Rosenfeld and Adler, PA (“RRA”). Am. Compl. ¶ 2 (DE 5). Rothstein told investors that RRA held in trust accounts fully funded settlement payments paid by defendants in lawsuits. Id. RRA maintained the trust accounts at Commerce Bank, where Defendant Spinosa ' worked, and which later was acquired by TD Bank, N.A. (“TD Bank”). Id., ¶¶ 6, 18, 25. Roth-stein also stated to investors that defendants in the lawsuits had paid in full their settlement funds, but that the plaintiffs in the lawsuits would be receiving periodic payments. ■ The plaintiffs entitled to the periodic payments would assign their monthly payments to investors in exchange for discounted immediate cash disbursements. Id., ¶ 2. These statements were false. RRA’s trust accounts typically held less than $100. Id., ¶ 18. In exchange for the discounted payments by the investors, Rothstein provided them with promissory notes issued by the RRA for the full settlement amount. Id., ¶ 15.

Plaintiff, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), alleges that Defendant Spinosa made misrepresentations to the investors to aid Rothstein’s scheme. [1374]*1374In particular, the SEC avers that Defendant Spinosa executed letters stating that the accounts containing the settlement funds were restricted to allow distribution of funds only to a particular investor on Rothstein’s direction (“lock letters”), and made false statements to investors in telephone and in-person meetings regarding the existence of the funds. Thus, the SEC brought suit alleging: fraud in violation of Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. § 77q(a)(1) (Count I); fraud in violation of Section 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. §§ 77q(a)(2) and 77q(a)(3) (Count II); fraud in violation of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5 (Count III); and aiding and abetting violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5 (Count IV).

Defendant Spinosa argues that the Amended Complaint should be dismissed because it fails to plead fraud with sufficient particularity and because it fails to allege facts supporting all necessary elements of the causes of action.

II. Legal standard

Rule 8(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires “a short and plain statement of the claims” that “will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiffs claim is and the ground upon which it rests.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a). The Supreme Court has held that “[w]hile a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss does not need detailed factual allegations, a plaintiffs obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitlement to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do. Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (internal citations omitted). Overall, a complaint must “give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Id (internal quotation omitted); Davis v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consol., 516 F.3d 955, 974 (11th Cir.2008).

“To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quotations and citations omitted). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id Thus, “only a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss.” Id at 1950. When considering a motion to dismiss, the Court must accept all of the plaintiffs allegations as true in determining whether a plaintiff has stated a claim for which relief could be granted. Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984).

III. Discussion

1. Particularity of fraud allegations

Defendant Spinosa argues that the SEC failed to plead fraud with sufficient particularity. The Court agrees. Rule 9(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides, in pertinent part, that “[i]n alleging fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b). Further, “[m]alice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of a person’s mind may be alleged generally.” Id This Rule “serves an important purpose in fraud actions by alerting defen[1375]*1375dants to the precise misconduct with which they are charged and protecting defendants against spurious charges of immoral and fraudulent behavior.” Brooks v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., 116 F.3d 1364, 1370-71 (11th Cir.1997) quoting Durham v. Business Mgmt. Assocs., 847 F.2d 1505, 1511 (11th Cir.1988) (internal quotation marks omitted). That stated, the Court must not allow the application of Rule 9(b) to vitiate the overall concept of notice pleading. See Ziemba v. Cascade Int’l, Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
31 F. Supp. 3d 1371, 2014 WL 2938487, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88697, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/securities-exchange-commission-v-spinosa-flsd-2014.