Seiden Law

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Seiden Law LLP
Major practice areasCorporate;
Litigation;
Arbitration;
Website Official website

Seiden Law is an American law firm founded by Robert Seiden headquartered in Manhattan, New York. [1] It specializes in high-stakes litigation, arbitration, judgment enforcement, cross-border disputes, and economic sanctions. [2]

Contents

Notable Cases

The firm has become well-known for helping clients who have been the victims of fraud or dealing with business disputes. [3]

Notably, it has developed a niche for American investors suing Chinese companies. [4] [5] This started in 2013 when Seiden was asked to act as receiver on the ZST Digital Networks case. [6]

The firm was also instrumental in securing the freezing of assets of Guo Wengui, [7] who was arrested in 2023 on fraud charges. [8]

Seiden led the case against Michael Ben-Ari, dubbed the Israeli Madoff, who ran the largest Ponzi scheme conducted in Israel. Operating through his company, EGFE, Ben-Ari is accused of misusing funds from American and Israeli clients, ultimately fleeing Israel on a false passport after posting bail. [9]

The firm also represented the 13 clients in the case against Omar Khan, a businessman accused of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme through exclusive wine-tasting events. Khan allegedly persuaded wealthy investors to fund luxury wine dinners with rare vintages and top chefs, but instead, he reportedly pocketed much of the money. The plaintiffs, who claim losses exceeding $8.3 million, accused him of running a "Ponzi-like" scheme involving fraud, misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. [10] [11] [12]

The firm successfully represented plaintiffs in a case against hedge fund manager Paul Touradji, who was forced to pay $90m. [13] The case is being re-tried after appeal and a hung jury. [14]

Israel-Hamas War

Following the Israel Hamas War, the firm filed a lawsuit against Iran, Syria, Binance, and its former CEO on behalf of several U.S. citizen victims and their family members, including released hostages and the family of an IDF soldier and a doctor killed by Hamas while aiding a victim. [15] [16] [17] An amended complaint was later filed listing only plaintiffs Binance Holdings Ltd and Changpeng Zhao.

In November 2023, the firm was one of 200 law firms [18] asking deans of the top 14 law schools to tone down anti-Semitic activities on campus. [19]

Bilalov Case

Former Russian Senator and self-exiled U.S. resident Ahmed Bilalov and his Ukrainian business partner are suing Russian Sberbank in Manhattan federal court to enforce a Ukrainian judgment secured after Russian instrumentalities expropriated their business. The case seeks U.S. court recognition of the judgment under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. [20]

Recognition

The firm and several of its attorneys have been recognized variously for their work in litigation [21] and financial law, [22] as well as for their contributions in the legal sector. [23] Attorneys of the firm have also provided comment in publications such as Law360 [24] and Law.com's Corporate Counsel. [25]

Attorneys at the firm have authored works published on Law360, [26] ABA Litigation Journal, [27] New York Law Journal, [28] South China Morning Post, [29] NewThinking [30] and Wolters Kluwer. [31]

The firm has been noted for its pro-bono work. [32]

Seiden has been appointed by the Security Exchange Commission to administer victim funds pursuant to court order and as a Receiver over 35 times to oversee the management of companies in judgment enforcement matters, including on behalf of AT&T and several Chinese companies listed on NASDAQ. [33]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madoff investment scandal</span> Investment scandal discovered in 2008

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Participants in the Madoff investment scandal</span>

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The recovery of funds from the Madoff investment scandal has been underway since the scandal broke in December 2008. That month, recovery trustee Irving Picard received funds from the Bank of New York account where Bernard Madoff held new investments into his Ponzi scheme. As it has been concluded that no legitimate investments were made on the investors' behalf for at least the last 12 years of operation, recovery has proceeded on a "money in/money out" basis. Investors are entitled to receive no more than the nominal cash amounts that they paid in and did not subsequently withdraw, without regard to inflation, interest, opportunity cost or the false statements that Madoff provided them. Those statements combined to a total balance of approximately $64 billion, while the admitted claims amount to $19.5 billion. As of March 2024, the trustee had recovered $14.7 billion toward these claims through legal action against Madoff associates, feeder funds and beneficiaries of the scheme, and had made fifteen distributions to investors. Action by the Department of Justice has recovered an additional $4 billion.

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Towers Financial Corporation was a debt collection agency based in Manhattan in New York City. Between 1988 and 1993, Towers Financial ran a Ponzi scheme that was the largest financial fraud in American history prior to Bernie Madoff's being uncovered.

Thomas Ajamie is an American lawyer and the founder of the law firm Ajamie LLP.

Robert W. Seiden is an American former prosecutor, lawyer, global investigator, court-appointed receiver, integrity monitor and founder of Seiden Law LLP, a litigation and sanctions-focused law firm. Seiden also serves on the board of advisors of a private clean energy company, GreenMet after stepping down as chairman.

References

  1. ↑ "Bounty Hunter Tracks Chinese Companies That Dupe Investors". NY Times. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  2. ↑ "Why Seiden". Seiden Law. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  3. ↑ "Xintong Zhang Joins Seiden Law Group in Manhattan". CityBiz. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  4. ↑ "Court Appointee Chases (and Finds) Investor Cash That Vanished in China". WSJ. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "Bounty Hunter Tracks Chinese Companies That Dupe Investors". NY Times. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  6. ↑ "Receiver Gains Control of Some Assets of China's ZST". WSJ. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  7. ↑ "Pacific Alliance v. Guo complaint" (PDF). Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  8. ↑ "Chinese business tycoon and Bannon ally Guo Wengui arrested in $1bn fraud conspiracy". Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  9. ↑ "NY court orders assets seized from 'Israeli Madoff' on run in $150m Ponzi scheme". Times of Israel. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  10. ↑ "A Wine Ponzi Scheme Targeted New York's Most Powerful Enophiles, Clients Allege". Wine Spectator. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  11. ↑ "The $9.5 Million Hangover Did a wine-world insider swindle his Bordeaux-swilling pals?". Grub Street. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  12. ↑ "Wine Con Man Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Identity Theft, Wire Fraud and Swindling New Yorkers Out of Nearly $7 Million". Bottle Raiders. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  13. ↑ "New York Court Vacates $91 Million Payout to Former Hedge Fund Employees". Wall St Journal. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  14. ↑ "Hedge Fund Manager Allegedly Transferred All Those Hundreds Of Millions For Nothing". Dealbreaker. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  15. ↑ "Binance Sued by Hamas Hostage, Families of Victims in Attack". Bloomberg. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  16. ↑ "Crypto exchange Binance sued by Hamas hostages, Oct. 7 victims' families for allegedly 'facilitating terrorism'". ABC News. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  17. ↑ "Three families of October 7 victims sue Iran, Syria, Binance in New York". Semafor. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  18. ↑ "Big law firms call on top law schools to condemn anti israel protests". Law.com. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  19. ↑ "Letter to Law School Deans" (PDF). Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  20. ↑ "Bilalov v Gref". Casetext. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  21. ↑ "The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators". Law Dragon. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  22. ↑ "The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers". Law Dragon. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  23. ↑ "The 2024 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation". Law Dragon. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  24. ↑ "Ariz. Judge Allows Insurer To Target DOT For Canadian Arb". Law 360. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  25. ↑ "Vetting Arbitrators for Possible Conflicts of Interest". Law.com. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  26. ↑ "Tips For Obtaining Removal From OFAC's Sanctions List". Law 360. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  27. ↑ "An Unhappy Bargain". JStor. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  28. ↑ "Private Investigator: Application of the Attorney-Client". law.com. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  29. ↑ "Chinese companies can survive in the US, even if the odds seem stacked against them. Just look to Japan". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  30. ↑ "Carbon Offsets: A Coming Wave of Litigation?". New Thinking. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  31. ↑ "What Alternatives Exist for International Arbitration Parties to Access §1782 Discovery?". Kluwer Arbitration Blog. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  32. ↑ "From-Chief-Judge-Swain_SDNY-Pro-Bono" (PDF). Letter from Chief Judge Swain. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  33. ↑ "From Chief Judge Swain_SDNY Pro Bono_Year-End Apprecia" (PDF). Laura Taylor Swain. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
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