Yas Casetellum’s Tin Quoc Tran is on the run after learning of a pending CFTC action against him.

Notwithstanding, the regulator believes Tran is aware of the lawsuit and has requested permission to proceed anyway.

News of Tran fleeing first surfaced in an April 4th Status Report, filed by the Yas Castellum Receiver.

On the morning of Tuesday, February 7, 2023, the Receiver and his team joined representatives from the CFTC, a process server, and law enforcement to take possession and control of the assets of Defendant Tin Quoc Tran, who was believed to be living at [removed] (the “Katy House”).

Unfortunately, the Katy House was vacant and listed for sale with a broker.

According to the neighbors, the Katy House was vacated by Defendant Tran the week before the SRO was entered.

The Receiver had numerous discussions with the broker who listed the Katy House for sale in an attempt to locate Defendant Tran, but Defendant Tran’s whereabout remain unknown.

The Receiver has since seized Tran’s “Katy House”, preventing it from being sold. The CFTC has also “frozen several bank accounts owned or controlled by Tran or his businesses.”

The CFTC details its own efforts to serve Tran in an April 14th filing.

The CFTC and the Temporary Receiver learned that the real estate agent who listed the property for sale, Thuylinh Nguyen, is a business associate of Tran.

The CFTC alleges Nguyen received over $275,000 from Tran over 2021 and 2022, tied to Tran’s Yas Castellum Ponzi schemes.

Tran transferred the Katy, TX property to a company owned by Ms. Nguyen in or around late January 2023.

For reference, the CFTC filed its Yas Castellum enforcement action on January 31st.

The Temporary Receiver asked Ms. Nguyen about Tran’s whereabouts and told her to have Tran contact the CFTC about this lawsuit, but Ms. Nguyen did not specify Tran’s whereabouts.

Beyond Thuylinh Nguyen, the CFTC has also attempted to contact Tran directly.

On February 7, 2023, the CFTC attempted to contact Tran on his last known phone number.

The CFTC left Tran a voicemail message notifying him that a lawsuit had been filed against him in this Court and asking
him, or his attorney, to return the call.

Tran has not returned the CFTC’s call.

On February 7, 2023, the CFTC obtained the phone number of Tran’s wife/partner, Minh Dang, from one of Tran’s neighbors.

The CFTC contacted Ms. Dang by phone and left a message requesting that Tran contact the CFTC about this lawsuit.

Tran has not responded to that message.

In February and March 2023, the CFTC refreshed its investigative reports obtained from publicly available and paid websites and communicated with banking institutions in an attempt to obtain Tran’s current whereabouts.

Those efforts led the CFTC to an address in Biloxi, Mississippi.

During the week of March 15, 2023, the CFTC sent a copy of the Complaint and Summons by registered mail to Tran at [removed] Biloxi, MS, an address used by Tran from 2020-23 as documented in investigative reports available to the CFTC.

On March 21, 2023, an individual named Dontuan Q. Tran received and signed for delivery of the Complaint and Summons.

According to investigative reports, Dontuan Q. Tran and Tin Quoc Tran shared the Biloxi, MS address at various times.

The CFTC alleges Dontuan Tran received $41,000 from Tran’s Ponzi scheme between May and August 2022.

The CFTC puts forth to the court that at this point Tran is likely aware of the lawsuit filed against him. Further supporting this is correspondence from Francisco Story’s attorney.

On February 22, 2023, counsel for Defendant Francisco Story informed the CFTC that Story’s counsel received a call from a lawyer representing Tran who wanted to speak to Story’s counsel about this lawsuit.

The CFTC requested that Story’s counsel share Tran’s counsel’s information with the CFTC, or have Tran’s counsel contact the CFTC directly.

Story’s counsel agreed to ask Tran’s counsel for permission to share counsel’s contact information with the CFTC.

However, the CFTC did not hear anything further from Story’s counsel or Tran’s counsel.

On February 24, 2023, the CFTC renewed its request to Story’s counsel to share Tran’s counsel’s contact information.

Again, the CFTC did not hear anything from Story’s counsel.

To date, Tran’s counsel has not contacted the CFTC about this lawsuit.

If the court isn’t satisfied Tran is aware of the lawsuit, such to the extent he can be counted as a served defendant, the CFTC requests permission to serve Tran via publication.

At time of publication a decision on the CFTC’s motion remains pending.

In related Yas Castellum news, Francisco Story consented to the entry of a preliminary injunction against him on April 17th.

Story’s consent follows that of Mike Sim, who consented to a preliminary injunction last month.

A preliminary injunction hearing for the remaining defendants was scheduled for April 19th. On April 17th however the court terminated the hearing.

While Yas Castellum itself wasn’t an MLM company, BehindMLM has taken an interest in the case by way of Mike Sims being a co-founder of the OmegaPro Ponzi scheme.

BehindMLM believes OmegaPro and several other MLM Ponzi schemes were tied to Yas Castellum, through Sims direct involvement and Ted Safranko’s The Traders Domain non-MLM Ponzi scheme.

Safranko is a named defendant in the CFTC’s Yas Castellum lawsuit.

OmegaPro, the other MLM Ponzi schemes and Traders Domain all collapsed in late 2022.

 

Update 6th May 2023 – An April 27th court order has granted the CFTC’s Motion for Alternative Service of Process.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has demonstrated that it has provided Tran with actual notice of this action through substituted service.

This means that, despite Tran’s efforts to dodge service, he now counts as served and the CFTC’s case against him will proceed.

 

Update 19th August 2024 – Tin Quoc Tran has copped a $512 million default judgment.