URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: TelexFree Figure Sann Rodrigues Found In Contempt Of Court

Sann Rodrigues. From INTERPOL.

(4th Update 7:23 p.m. ET U.S.A.) TelexFree, IFreeX and DFRF Enterprises’ figure Sann Rodrigues has been found in contempt of court in the SEC’s Ponzi- and pyramid case against TelexFree and a federal judge in Massachusetts has threatened to jail him.

The SEC alleged Rodrigues, a recidivist securities offender,  violated an asset freeze imposed in 2014. U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton today agreed.

Gorton rejected defense arguments that Rodrigues, a Brazilian now accused of visa fraud in the United States, wasn’t skilled at English and didn’t understand the freeze order.

“His arguments are unconvincing,” Gorton ruled. “Rodrigues was subject to a very similar temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in a 2006 civil enforcement action also brought by the SEC. Thus, however complex were the requirements of the orders in this case, they were not unfamiliar.”

The judge also rejected a contention by Rodrigues that he could not provide an accounting as ordered because providing the requested financial information would violate his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Gorton ruled that Rodrigues already had waived his right in dealings with the SEC

From the Dec. 18 order by Gorton (italics added):

Rodrigues argues that providing a full accounting of his assets and transactions would require him to disclose information that could incriminate him in several potential or actual criminal proceedings. Rodrigues is currently the subject of a criminal prosecution in a separate federal visa fraud case, U.S. V. Rodrigues (15-10227). He reports that he is also being investigated by the Massachusetts Attorney General with respect to another of his business ventures. In addition, he contends that he may still be under investigation for potential criminal charges related to the specific conduct that underlies this civil enforcement action.

Whether defendant has made a sufficient showing to invoke the Fifth Amendment is, however, irrelevant. Rodrigues waived his right against self-incrimination by consenting to the Order. . . . In that proceeding, Rodrigues explicitly agreed to provide the very information he is now claiming to be privileged . . . Defendant was represented by counsel, who negotiated the language of the order with the SEC. In exchange for agreeing to provide the required accountings, Rodrigues received a carve-out of his frozen assets to pay for his bail in the separate criminal visa fraud case.

By Jan. 15, Rodrigues must restore more than $334,000 removed in violation of the asset freeze, Gorton ruled. He also is required to “obtain the reconveyance” of real estate transferred in violation of the freeze or “remit funds equal to the market value thereof or provide the Court with a detailed plan as to how he will otherwise cure his contempt in relation to the transfer of those properties.”

Rodrigues violated the freeze by  “removing cash from accounts or selling cars,” the judge found.

The penalty for not meeting the conditions of the order is bail revocation, Gorton ruled.

Rodrigues has become at least the second figure associated with a Ponzi-board “program” to be found in contempt this month.

Darryle Douglas, an alleged Zeek Rewards’ insider, was ordered arrested on Dec. 10. That order was issued by Senior U.S. District Judge Graham C. Mullen of the Western District of North Carolina. Whether Douglas has been taken into custody is unclear.

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.