A call on the meat between the Digital Altitude Receivership and Paradise Media Ventures, will see proprietor John Souza maintain $600,000 of sufferer funds.
The dispute will be traced again to a $515,000 clawback lawsuit filed by the Digital Altitude Receiver again in March.
As a part of its fraudulent enterprise operations, Digital Altitude ‘licensed
sure instructional supplies’ from Paradise Media Ventures.
In accordance with the Receiver, Digital Altitude overpaid Paradise Media Ventures $600,000.
PMV has no professional entitlement to the Overpaid Funds, however nonetheless it refuses to remit them to Receiver as repeatedly demanded.
PMV has sought to reap the benefits of this Courtroom’s orders of redress and imposition of a receivership over DA to maintain the
Overpaid Funds for itself – all to the hurt of aggrieved shoppers that may profit from the return of the Overpaid Funds.
John Souza (proper), Paradise Media Ventures’ proprietor, counters that it entered into its settlement with Digital Altitude, on the illustration the corporate “had solely $600,000 in complete service provider reserves”.
Souza additionally contends that Digital Altitude failed to offer him entry to their monetary statements, as required by their settlement.
[H]advert DA offered the viewer entry to the service provider and checking account and PMV discovered that there was over $1 million out there to pay PMV, PMV would have by no means agreed to take a brief cost.
Via a July fifth order, the court docket sided with Paradise Media Ventures Group.
Causes cited for the choice embrace had Digital Altitude of pursued restoration of the overpaid quantity, they’d have needed to have filed a lawsuit.
The court docket noticed the Receiver’s clawback lawsuit as an try to “sidestep” due course of.
Though the court docket didn’t definitively acknowledge PMV owned the funds in query, it did acknowledge that on this case PMV was greater than only a custodian of the funds.
That’s to say in your typical clawback case a service provider is holding funds, which it’s inevitably required to show over.
On this case the court docket disagreed with the Receiver’s assertion that ““[t]he information on this matter are very easy”, however refused to resolve
competing positions by the restricted strategy of the (clawback) Movement could be neither acceptable nor honest.
That the Receiver was additionally unable to indicate PMV ‘precise or constructive discover of the wrongdoing of Digital Altitude when it contracted with and obtained funds from Digital Altitude‘, additionally factored into the choice.
Can’t say I agree with this determination as a complete.
The Receiver is free to pursue the matter by way of a separate civil lawsuit, however as a result of prices and time I can’t see that occuring.
From a purely moral standpoint, receiving $600,000 as an overpayment after which ghosting the payee appears fairly shady.
Bear in mind, on the time Souza didn’t have entry to Digital Altitude’s monetary studies. So what PMV would or wouldn’t have entered to on the time was irrelevant.
Souza determined to simply maintain the cash.
As for not figuring out Digital Altitude was a rip-off; Souza promoting advertising and marketing coaching and misleading advertising and marketing being a core part of the FTC’s case, actually evokes a sure stage of irony.
As I personally uncovered in 2016, Digital Altitude’s enterprise mannequin was clearly that of a pyramid scheme.
Pending further civil litigation, which as acknowledged I really feel is unlikely, the July fifth determination permits Souza to maintain the $600,000 overpayment.
Digital Altitude’s victims miss out.
Replace twentieth August 2019 – Seems this isn’t over but.
As per the Digital Altitude Receiver’s newest August fifteenth Standing Report, the Receivership is “making ready a criticism for submitting within the (Georgia) State court docket.”
Replace thirteenth March 2020 – Following cost-benefit evaluation, the Digital Altitude Receivership has opted to not pursue restoration.