Yogaratnam v. Doe

District Court, E.D. Louisiana·Decided November 20, 2024·No. 2:24-cv-00393·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA

JEYSEN ZIVAN YOGARATNAM CIVIL ACTION

VERSUS NO. 24-393

JOHN DOE et al. SECTION: “G”(4)

ORDER AND REASONS Before the Court is Plaintiff Jeysen Zivan Yogaratnam’s (“Plaintiff”) Motion to Review Magistrate Judge’s Order Pursuant to Local Rule 72.2.1 In the motion, Plaintiff seeks review of the Magistrate Judge’s October 29, 2024 Order2 denying him expedited discovery and third-party subpoenas. Defendants have not entered appearances in this matter. Having considered the motion, the memorandum in support, the record, and the applicable law, the Court grants the motion. I. Background According to the Amended Complaint, Defendants deceived Plaintiff into transferring approximately $294,215 worth of cryptocurrency into Defendants’ private cryptocurrency wallet addresses (collectively, “Destination Addresses”) after Defendant 1 a/k/a “Darina Dubois” fraudulently represented that she was a cryptocurrency investor who would assist Plaintiff in investing his cryptocurrency.3 Plaintiff allegedly believed he had downloaded a legitimate and regulated cryptocurrency exchange smartphone application called CTRL-FX, but under the

1 Rec. Doc. 25. 2 Rec. Doc. 24. 3 Rec. Doc. 20 at 1–4. guidance of Defendant 1, Plaintiff instead downloaded an illegitimate application.4 At the direction of Defendant 1, Plaintiff began transferring cryptocurrency he held in his Coinbase and Kraken accounts to what he believed was the legitimate CTRL-FX exchange.5 Plaintiff alleges that the application was entirely simulated and served as a vehicle of theft for Defendants, giving them a

mechanism to provide Plaintiff with false account statements that masked the fraudulent scheme Defendants were perpetrating.6 Plaintiff alleges the “CTRL-FX” exchange to which Plaintiff was sending his cryptocurrency holdings was actually––unbeknownst to Plaintiff––Defendants’ own private cryptocurrency wallet addresses.7 According to the Complaint, Plaintiff retained CNC Intelligence Inc., a forensic cryptocurrency tracing expert company, which has traced Plaintiff’s stolen assets to Destination Addresses believed to be under Defendants’ control.8 Specifically, Plaintiff has identified the following cryptocurrency wallet addresses held primarily at cryptocurrency exchanges Bitkub, Binance, Blofin, and Tokenlon.9

4 Id. at 5–6. 5 Id. at 7. 6 Id. 7 Id. at 3. 8 Id. at 9. 9 Rec. Doc. 1-4. }1 | □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ [| 153.900USDT_ | 1 | Oxc383e037ab6872adae3ec35714b8d8cc46bea867 | 1.063.609 USDT_ | 1 | □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ | 77.763.16356USDT | 1 | □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ | 3.28654BTC

On February 15, 2024, Plaintiff filed a Complaint, asserting (1) conversion, (2) unjust enrichment, (3) imposition of constructive trust and disgorgement of funds, and (4) conspiracy claims against Defendants.!° The Court has diversity jurisdiction over this case because the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000 and the suit is between Plaintiff, a citizen of Nevada, and Defendants, citizens of a foreign state.!' Venue is proper in this District because Defendants are not residents in the United States, and therefore may be sued in any judicial district. !? On February 22, 2024, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order seeking to freeze Plaintiffs assets at the specified Destination Addresses held by Defendants.!* On February 22, 2024, Plaintiff also filed a Motion for Order Authorizing Alternate Service of Process on Foreign Defendants, seeking to serve Defendants through website posting and Non-Fungible Token (“NFT”) electronic transfer.'* On February 23, 2024, the Court granted Plaintiff's Motion

10 Rec. Doc. 1 at 8-11. 1 See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(2). 2 See 18 U.S.C. § 1965(a), (b), and 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b), (c). Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(c)(3), a defendant who does not reside in the United States—regardless of citizenship—may be sued in any district. © Rec. Doc. 6. 4 Rec. Doc. 7.

for Temporary Restraining Order and Motion for Alternate Service.15 On March 7, 2024, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Filing Proof of Service, attaching the Affidavit of Reagan Charleston Thomas (“Ms. Thomas”).16 In the Affidavit, Ms. Thomas states that a copy of the Temporary Restraining Order was added to the service website, located at https://usdccourtservice.com/cv-00393/.17 Ms. Thomas states Defendants were served with the

Summons, Complaint, notice of the Preliminary Injunction Hearing, the Temporary Restraining Order, and a link to the service website via NFT to four Tether (USDT) wallets and three Bitcoin (BTC) wallets on February 26, 2024.18 Ms. Thomas also states that Plaintiff provided a copy of the Temporary Restraining Order to Bitkub, Blofin, Binance, and Tokenlon exchanges where the seven wallets are held.19 On March 8, 2024, the Court held a hearing on whether to convert the Temporary Restraining Order to a Preliminary Injunction.20 Following the hearing, the Court entered an Order for Preliminary Injunction.21 On March 22, 2024, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Entry of Default.22 On March 25, 2024, the Clerk of Court entered default against Defendants.23

On May 8, 2024, this Court issued a Final Default Judgment and Permanent Injunction in

15 Rec. Docs. 8, 9. 16 Rec. Doc. 10. 17 Rec. Doc. 10-1 at 3. 18 Id. at 2–4. 19 Id. at 3. 20 Rec. Doc. 11. 21 Rec. Doc. 12. 22 Rec. Doc. 13. 23 Rec. Doc. 14. Plaintiff’s favor and against Defendant “1” a/k/a “Darina Dubois” and Defendants John Does 1- 20 (collectively, “Defendants”).24 Defendants were served with the Summons, the Complaint, and the TRO Orders, but did not make any appearances in this matter. The Court found that the well- pleaded Complaint established that Defendants are liable to Plaintiff for conversion, unjust

enrichment, and imposition of a constructive trust and disgorgement of funds related to Defendants’ theft of Plaintiff’s cryptocurrency.25 Plaintiff demonstrated that he was entitled to damages in the amount of $625,455.26.26 The Court also found that Plaintiff was entitled to permanent injunctive relief and imposition of a constructive trust over the stolen cryptocurrencies.27 The Court permanently enjoined Defendants from maintaining, using, operating, or effecting any electronic transactions on Defendants’ wallets where Plaintiff’s cryptocurrency had been traced.28 The Court found that monetary damages were not an adequate remedy at law because absent a permanent injunction, Defendants would continue to transfer Plaintiff’s funds to other wallets, causing Plaintiff irreparable harm.29 On August 7, 2024, Plaintiff moved the Court to set aside the May 8, 2024 judgment and reopen the case.30 Plaintiff cited new evidence impacting Plaintiff’s ability to collect on the

judgment and shedding new light upon the true identities of Defendants.31 Plaintiff was informed

24 Rec. Doc. 17. 25 Rec. Doc. 16. 26 Id. at 11. 27 Id. at 12. 28 Rec. Doc. 17 at 2. 29 Rec. Doc. 16 at 12. 30 Rec. Doc. 18. 31 Id.

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