We started story about this case on Friday.  Here is the balance of the court’s decision on fraud and aiding and abetting fraud.  This was a big international fraud in which Proskauer billed $1 Million for representation of one of the players, and was accused of helping the fraud itself, by accepting funds obtained through the fraud, and, in effect, turning a blind eye to it all.

“Plaintiffs’ attempt to overcome this flaw by relying on Weinstein’s recent motion, filed by his new counsel in the New Jersey federal court, seeking “specific performance” of his plea agreement made with the government in connection with the 2011 charges,[FN2] is also misplaced. Even if his argument in that motion were true (i.e., the fraud scheme in the 2011 and 2013 Actions was “a key component of both”), it does not give rise to an inference that Proskauer knew of the fraud concerning the Facebook IPO and other transactions implicated in the 2013 Action. For the same reason, the fact that the retainer fee was paid via a third-party check, with a notation that it was a “Loan Return for 148 LLC,” does not infer that Proskauer “substantially assisted” Weinstein in defrauding Plaintiffs by laundering funds that were “probably directly or indirectly fraudulent proceeds” of the 2011 Action. The 2011 Action did not involve Plaintiffs, 148 or the Kahal Defendants. There is no allegation that Proskauer had “actual knowledge “(as opposed to Plaintiffs’ speculative phrase “probably directly or indirectly”) of any connection between Weinstein and Plaintiffs at the time the retainer was paid. This remains true even if Proskauer “knew” that Weinstein was prohibited from engaging in financial transactions of more than $1,000 or failed to perform sufficient “due diligence” as to the source of the funds.

Moreover, even though the intent to commit fraud may be divined from the surrounding circumstances, “substantial assistance” in aiding and abetting fraud “means more than just performing routine business services for the alleged fraudster.” CRT Invs., Ltd. v BDO Seidman, LLP, 85 AD3d 470, 472 [1st Dept 2011] (citations omitted). Here, it is not alleged that Proskauer provided substantial assistance to Weinstein, other than routine legal representation in the 2011 Action, by making fraudulent misrepresentation or inducing Plaintiffs in connection with transactions implicated in the 2013 Action.

Further, when a plaintiff seeks to extend an alleged fraud beyond the principal actors, the requirement of CPLR 3016(b) must be “strictly adhered” to because “the alleged aider and abetter, by hypothesis, has not made any fraudulent misrepresentation and should not be called to account for the intentional tort of another unless the circumstances of his connection therewith can be alleged in detail from the outset.” National Westminster, 124 AD2d at 149. The allegations against Proskauer do not meet CPLR 3016 (b)’s requirements. Plaintiffs’ reliance on Eurycleia Partners, LP v Seward & Kissel, LLP (12 NY3d 553 [2009]) is also misplaced. Indeed, in Eurycleia, the Court of Appeals dismissed the aiding and abetting fraud claim against the law firm that prepared the [*5]offering memoranda for a hedge fund that later collapsed. The Court held that even though “a plaintiff need not produce absolute proof of fraud,” the allegations in the amended complaint were “conclusory” and did not give rise to a “reasonable inference” that the law firm committed fraud or aided and abetted fraudulent activities. Id. 560-561. Here, the Complaint fails to allege that Proskauer knew and substantially assisted Weinstein in those transactions in which Plaintiffs assert they were defrauded. Thus, the aiding and abetting fraud claim shall be dismissed.”