Christopher James Scanlon has been indicted following failure to reach a plea agreement.

Scanlon (right) was arrested and charged with running an “unlicensed money transmitting business” back in 2023.

In short, through his companies PMA Media Group, Aurae Lifestyle, Nvayo Limited, Club Swan and AU Card LLC, Scanlon laundered money for scammers.

BehindMLM’s interest in Scanlon’s case stems from his companies providing financial services to BitClub Network, GSPartners and PLC Ultima – three since-collapsed fraudulent MLM investment schemes.

After Scanlon’s arrest we noted he was released on a $5 million secured release bond in August 2023. Since then though there have been no further updates, which is odd because it’s been a year and a half.

Following news of Nvayo Limited entering into “special administration” in the UK, I ran a check to see if there were any external Scanlon updates I might have missed.

I came across a second DOJ press-release on Scanlon, which when compared against the original 2023 release suggests Scanlon was caught trying to flee the country.

From the 2023 press-release;

Scanlon was arrested at Miami International Airport today and is expected to have his initial appearance in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Friday.

And the 2024 release;

Scanlon was arrested at Miami International Airport on Oct. 10, 2024, and made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Oct. 11, 2024.

He was arraigned today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lede Dunn Wettre in Newark federal court and pleaded not guilty.

I don’t know the specific arrest details but given Scanlon had relaxed travel restrictions on him, I take it he was travelling domestically prior to the second arrest.

Scanlon’s second arrest ties into his indictment, filed on October 11th, 2024. This created a new case number, which confusingly dates back to April 2023.

That is to say this second case docket has been updated continuously while the first case docket I was tracking appears to have been abandoned.

The good news is we haven’t missed much. Up until his October 2024 indictment filing, the docket entries mostly relate to relaxed release restrictions.

After Scanlon’s indictment things get a bit prickly. Scanlon has moved to dismiss the indictment, while the DOJ has requested complex case designation (essentially slowing down proceedings due to case complexity).

A decision on the DOJ’s complex case motion, filed on October 25th, 2024, remains pending.

The DOJ’s response to Scanlon’s motion to dismiss his indictment, filed on March 24th, provides insight into what occurred behind the scenes since 2023.

Since June 5, 2023, Scanlon’s bail conditions have been modified approximately seven times, at his request, to allow for travel and other less restrictive conditions.

Most recently, on December 27, 2024, with the Government’s consent, this Court modified Scanlon’s bail conditions by:

(1) removing GPS monitoring,

(2) allowing Scanlon to communicate with both domestic and foreign business based entities in which Scanlon has an interest in and for the purpose of terminating that interest; and

(3) removing the requirement that Scanlon needed approval to start a business, other than one involving banking or in the money transmitting industry.

For More Than Three Years, the Parties’ Attempted to Resolve the Matter and Mutually Agreed to Enter Continuances of the Speedy Trial Clock for 15 Months.

During the investigation, beginning in 2020, both before and after Scanlon was charged by complaint, and up until approximately mid-September 2024, the Government and Scanlon’s counsel (both current and former)1 met and conferred on numerous occasions, and engaged in serious plea negotiations at Scanlon’s request.

In September 2024, Scanlon’s New Counsel Ended Plea Negotiations and Refused to Agree to any Additional Continuances.

Since then the DOJ has provided Scanlon with “over 25,000 pages of discovery”.

In a nutshell, Scanlon argues his indictment should be dismissed because, as per the Speedy Trial Act, 70 days have passed from his indictment filing without trial.

The DOJ argues, among other things, that seventy days has not passed due to various events.

The 70-day clock has not run because periods of delay in this matter were excluded from the seventy-day calculation.

One example provided is Scanlon’s then new Counsel ghosting the DOJ for “more than a month” over language in a proposed protective order (pertaining to discovery).

And so that’s where we’re at. Rulings on the DOJ’s complex case motion and Scanlon’s motion to dismiss his indictment remain pending.