Wiand v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.

938 F. Supp. 2d 1238, 2013 WL 1401414, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50349
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedApril 5, 2013
DocketCase No. 8:12-cv-00557-T-27EAJ
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 938 F. Supp. 2d 1238 (Wiand v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) 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
Wiand v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 938 F. Supp. 2d 1238, 2013 WL 1401414, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50349 (M.D. Fla. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

JAMES D. WHITTEMORE, District Judge.

BEFORE THE COURT is Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Second Amended Complaint, and to Strike Certain Allegations Therein (Dkt. 66), to which the Receiver has responded in opposition (Dkt. 68). Upon consideration, the motion (Dkt. 66) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Arthur Nadel orchestrated a massive Ponzi scheme for ten years before he was caught in January 2009. His management companies, Scoop Management, Inc. and Scoop Capital, LLC, raised in excess of $850 million from unwitting investors, purporting to deposit the money in a set of hedge funds, which he used as his personal bank account. Burton Wiand is the court-appointed receiver for the hedge funds: Scoop Real Estate, L.P., Valhalla Investment Partners, L.P., Victory IRA Fund, Ltd., Victory Fund, Ltd., Viking IRA Fund, LLC, and Viking Fund, LLC. In this action, he alleges that Wells Fargo Bank1 and Ryan Best gained actual knowledge of Nadel’s fraud and .substantially assisted Nadel in stealing money from investors.

The initial complaint (Dkt. 2) was dismissed in part (Dkt. 37) for failing to state a claim. Specifically, the Receiver’s claims for aiding and abetting common law fraud (Count I), aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty (Count II), and aiding and abetting conversion (Count III) were dismissed without prejudice. Also dismissed without prejudice was Count IV for common law negligence, but only as it pertained to Victory IRA Fund, Ltd., Valhalla Investment Partners, L.P., and Viking IRA Fund, LLC. The negligence claims asserted on behalf of Scoop Real Estate, L.P., Victory Fund, Ltd., and Viking Fund, LLC were upheld. Also upheld were the Receiver’s claims .for fraudulent transfer against Wells Fargo and Best (Count V) and unjust enrichment against Wells Fargo only (Count VI). The Receiver was granted leave to file an amended complaint.

The Receiver then filed a 76-page, 282-paragraph First Amended Complaint (Dkt. 42), which was stricken sua sponte as a shotgun pleading and for failing to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a) (Dkt. 60). The Receiver was granted leave to file a second amended complaint and warned that failure to plead in a manner contemplated by Rule 8 could result in dismissal with prejudice. The Receiver has now filed his Second Amended Complaint (Dkt. 63), and Defendants again move to dismiss all of the claims and to strike certain allegations concerning anti-money laundering statutes, regulations and manuals (Dkt. 66). The Receiver has responded in opposition (Dkt. 68) and filed a Notice of Supplemental Authority (Dkt. 74).

II. Standard of Review

A complaint should contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). This Rule does not re[1243]*1243quired detailed factual allegations, but it demands more than an unadorned, conclusory accusation of harm. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). “The complaint must contain enough facts to make a claim for relief plausible on its face.” Resnick v. AvMed, Inc., 693 F.3d 1317, 1324-25 (11th Cir.2012). “[Ojnly a complaint that states a plausible claim for relief survives a motion to dismiss.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (citing Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)).

“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. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). This plausibility standard “asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. at 679,129 S.Ct. 1937 (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “Where a complaint pleads facts that are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s liability, it ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.’ ” Id. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955). “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will ... be a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Id. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (citing Iqbal v. Hasty, 490 F.3d 143, 157 (2d Cir.2007), rev’d sub nom. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009)). Where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has not shown that the pleader is entitled to relief. Id.

In Twombly, the Supreme Court addressed the well-pleaded, nonconelusory factual allegations of parallel behavior to determine whether they gave rise to a “plausible” suggestion of conspiracy. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 565-66, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Although the Court acknowledged that the conduct alleged was consistent with an unlawful agreement, the Court nevertheless ' concluded that ■ the claims were not plausible because the conduct was more likely explained by other lawful behavior. Id. at 567, 127 S.Ct. 1955. Therefore, where the allegations of parallel conduct underlying the legal conclusions of a complaint are more likely explained by other lawful behavior, the complaint must be dismissed.

At the motion to dismiss stage, the complaint is construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). Although it is axiomatic that the Court must accept as true all of the allegations contained in' the complaint, this tenet is “inapplicable to legal conclusions.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. “While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations.” Id. at 679,129 S.Ct. 1937.

III. Discussion 2

A. Counts I through TV — The Aiding and Abetting Claims

Counts I through IV of the Second Amended Complaint are claims for aiding [1244]*1244and abetting the tortious activity of Nadel: Count I for his common law fraud, Count II for his breach of fiduciary duty, and Counts III and IV for his conversion. (Count III is brought on behalf of Scoop Real Estate, Victory IRA Fund and Victory Fund, while Count IV is brought on behalf of Valhalla Investment Partners, Viking IRA Fund, and Viking Fund.) Defendants move to .dismiss all. four counts for failing to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.

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938 F. Supp. 2d 1238, 2013 WL 1401414, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50349, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wiand-v-wells-fargo-bank-na-flmd-2013.