A group of investors behind a class-action lawsuit against Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon over fraud allegations have dropped the case.
In a Sept. 28 filing in United States District Court for the Northern District of California, lawyers representing plaintiff Nick Patterson, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of investors, filed a notice of voluntary dismissal only against Terraform and Kwon. The notice did not explicitly state the reasons for dropping the case without prejudice.
“The [Terraform Labs] Defendants have neither answered the complaint […] nor filed motions for summary judgment,” said the filing. “Because the Court has not certified the proposed class for any purpose in this case and this dismissal is without prejudice, it will not bind members of the proposed class.”
1/ In another win for Terraform Labs, the class-action lawsuit alleging fraud against TFL and @stablekwon has been voluntarily dismissed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.https://t.co/oYfkblOf0H
Patterson’s legal team filed the lawsuit in June 2022 following the collapse of Terraform Labs, which many attributed to kicking off a major crypto market crash. Kwon and the company have since been the target of many authorities globally for their role in an alleged scheme aimed at defrauding investors.
In February, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit against Kwon and Terra for allegedly “orchestrating a multi-billion dollar crypto asset securities fraud”. Authorities in Montenegro arrested Kwon in March and subsequently sentenced him to 4 months in prison for using false travel documents. At the time of publication, it was unclear if he will be released in Montenegro or face extradition to the U.S. or South Korea.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.