Investors’ proposed class-action lawsuits against the FTX exchange were not consolidated by a U.S. judge, according to the judge the defendants had not had the opportunity to respond.
On March 8, United States District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley issued the ruling that rejected plaintiffs’ requests to combine a total of five proposed class action lawsuits against the defunct cryptocurrency exchange. The judge noted that even while no defendants opposed the motion, not all of them had yet been given a chance to reply. On the order it said:
“While Plaintiffs state that no Defendant has filed an opposition, they offer no declaration attesting that they have met and conferred with Defendants and that they do not oppose consolidation.”
Many plaintiffs, including Julie Papadakis, Michael Elliott Jessup, Stephen T. Pierce, Elliott Lam, and Russell Hawkins, filed lawsuits in the Northern District of California accusing former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and other officials of embezzling their funds.
While Bankman-Fried is the target of every plaintiff, there are a number of other defendants in the case, such as independent auditors and others who advocated the exchange.
The judge added that there is no reason to consolidate in light of this before hearing from the defendants. “The Court finds no reason to act at this time without first providing the defendants a chance to be heard. Also, appointing interim class counsel prior to consolidation would be premature, the court ruled.
Bankman-attorneys, Fried’s meantime, have recently hinted that it would be necessary to postpone the criminal trial that is set for October. Bankman-attorneys Fried’s wrote on March 8 that they may need a date change even though they haven’t formally asked for one because they’re still awaiting delivery of a sizable amount of material. The attorneys also mentioned that Bankman-Fried faced additional allegations in February.
