Not So Fast: DOJ Fights Back After Dismissal of Atlas Trading Fraud Case, Claims Likely Appeal Success
Atlas Trading’s Zack Morris, et al may be celebrating too early following the United States District Court dismissal of the criminal case against them.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a motion that requests the court stay execution of its order dismissing the superseding indictment for the US to “consider its options in this case, including an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.”
The motion boldly states that the dismissal order “was plainly contrary to the law, such that the United States would be likely to succeed on an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (should the United States pursue that path).”
Granting the motion would not alter the dismissal itself, as X user @thetraderbabe notes, just that it would maintain the status quo for 30 days while the US considers its next steps. Maintaining the status quo means “among other things, not allowing the return of the Defendants’ respective passports for international travel, where the United States would have to initiate extradition procedures should Defendants be back before the Court and refuse to return.”
It would, the filing states, ensure that the case would proceed as expeditiously as possible and that there would be no further delays.
It also alleges that the court made four “critical errors” in dismissing the case, the first of which was concluding that the superseding indictment does not allege that the defendants, Morris (legally known as Edward Constantinescu) and the group that makes up Atlas trading intended to deprive their followers of money or property.
“Given the significant errors in the Court’s analysis, the United States has a high likelihood of success on the merits should it appeal the Order,” DOJ Fraud Section Chief Glenn S. Leon and US attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani wrote in the motion dated March 22nd.
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