The OneCoin class-action plaintiffs have been given permission to effect alternate service on defendants OneCoin and Ruja Ignatova.
Alternative service for Sebastian Greenwood and Irina Dilinska was denied.
Following an initial denial to the request last November, a renewed motion satisfied the court’s earlier concerns.
Plaintiffs have submitted adequate factual support showing that they have made a diligent search to find and serve the unserved Defendants, thus curing the first defect the Court identified in its previous order.
With respect to OneCoin, the plaintiffs will effect service
- on their Dubai office
- via email and
- messages to its social media accounts
Service on Ruja Ignatova is the same, with the caveat plaintiffs notify the court if email service bounces.
Plaintiffs had requested email service for Dilinska, but the court was unmoved due to lack of evidence she ever used a “onecoin.eu” account.
The same problem arose for Sebastian Greenwood.
Plaintiffs offer no evidence that the proposed email addresses for Greenwood belong to him, again relying solely on their own complaint’s allegations.
Nor do Plaintiffs offer any evidence that messaging the proposed social media accounts is likely to reach Greenwood.
The court observed Greenwood’s Facebook account had been deactivated, and that his LinkedIn account has had no activity for three years.
Greenwood is believed to be in custody following extradition from Thailand.
Plaintiffs have suggested service via the prosecutor’s office, however confirmation from the DOJ that they’d be willing to assist must be sought first.
As at the time of publication it’s unclear whether that’s happened.
The OneCoin class-action case was stayed pending service on August 23rd, 2019.
If these latest service hurdles can be overcome, the case will continue.
Bear in mind though, if service is this difficult then participation by the defendants in proceedings looks unlikely. Stay tuned…
Update 25th March 2020 – On February 28th Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal pertaining to Sebastian Greenwood and Irina Dilinska.
An order made later the same day confirmed the notice.