The CFTC has been given permission to serve a number of The Merchants Area defendants through alternate service.
Named defendants within the CFTC’s November 18th movement are all labeled as “international defendants”.
- Ted Safranko – “a Canadian citizen with addresses in Ontario and British Columbia, Canada”
- Negus-Romvari – “a Canadian citizen who’s presently believed to be residing in Mexico”
- Merchants Area – “a company registered below the legal guidelines of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines”
- TrublueFX – “a company registered below the legal guidelines of Saint Lucia”
- Juan Jose Herman – “a U.S. citizen and resident of Florida [who] has apparently “left his dwelling state of Florida in August 2024 on a flight sure for Dubai, United Arab Emirates” and has not returned since””
Particular to Herman, the CFTC’s The Merchants Area lawsuit was filed in October 2024. It’s unclear whether or not Herman knew he was below federal investigation however his option to flee to Dubai isn’t seemingly coincidental.
What we do know is again in March 2024, Herman was a named defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by one among his victims.
Sam Lee’s latest detainment apart, Dubai has lengthy been a haven for criminals in search of to evade justice.
Safranko’s whereabouts stay unknown however I wouldn’t be shocked if he too turned up in Dubai. Mexico can be a risk.
On November twenty fifth, the court docket granted the CFTC permission to serve The Merchants Area “international defendants” through “electronic mail and web site”.
From the court docket’s order;
We’ll say yet one more fast phrase about Defendant Herman who, not like the remainder of the Overseas Defendants, is a United States citizen with an obvious residence in Florida.
Though we’re hesitant to authorize various service of course of on United States residents, the Plaintiff has made quite a few makes an attempt to serve Herman between October 8, 2024, and November 6, 2024, comparable to by “contact[ing] two counsel identified to have represented Herman in two separate investigations and litigations[,]” making an attempt to personally serve Herman at three totally different addresses in South Florida, “try[ing] to contact Herman through phone at three phone numbers related to him[,]” and chatting with a property supervisor to substantiate if Herman nonetheless lived on the property and if he had a forwarding deal with for Herman.
When all these makes an attempt failed, the Plaintiff “requested from U. S. Customs and Border Safety (‘CBP’) a global journey historical past abstract for Herman” and discovered that Herman had left the USA for Dubai in August 2024 and had not returned as of November 12, 2024.
For the reason that Plaintiff made a number of good-faith (however failed) makes an attempt to serve Herman in the USA—and given the proof that Herman is presently residing in a international jurisdiction—we agree that serving Herman by electronic mail and web site publication comports with due course of and in all fairness calculated to apprise Herman of this motion.
Juan Herman, aka. JJ Herman, is a co-owner of Algo FX Capital Advisor LLC.
Algo Capital Advisor LLC is/was a Delaware shell firm used to launder The Merchants Area investor funds.
In associated information, an upcoming preliminary injunction listening to has been rescheduled.
Resulting from an legal professional scheduling battle, the listening to will now happen on January sixth.