telexfree-logoBack in April the TelexFree Trustee went on a clawback rampage and sued a ton of insiders and merchants.

Carlos Wanzeler, his family, Gerry Nehra and his law firm, Nehra and Waak were just four of the parties the Trustee is attempting to recover millions of dollars from.

Responses to the Trustee’s lawsuits are starting to emerge. In Wanzeler and Nehra’s respective lawsuits, they’ve denied all allegations and demanded a jury trial.

Wanzeler and his family stand accused of stealing over 4 million dollars through TelexFree.

In their response, the Wanzeler’s either deny the allegations made against them, or claim they ‘lack knowledge and information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations‘.

WHEREFORE, having fully answered Plaintiff’s Complaint, Defendants request that it be dismissed with prejudice; that judgment be entered for Defendants; and that Defendants be awarded his costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees herein.

DEFENDANTS DEMAND A TRIAL BY JURY.

Yeah, you’re that right – not only does Wanzeler, a fugitive hiding out in Brazil, want the Trustee’s lawsuit against him dismissed, he expects TelexFree victims to pay his legal fees.

Gerry Nehra and Nehra and Waak were hired by TelexFree, among other things, to go around the internet and claim the company was legitimate.

Gerry Nehra personally gave his legal blessing to the company at a TelexFree event held in 2013.

The Trustee is suing Nehra for $23,975.

Seems to me the smart thing to do would be to acknowledge you got caught out promoting a Ponzi scheme (again), pay back what you were paid and try to salvage what’s left of your battered legal reputation.

Instead, Nehra and his law firm have filed a response again outright denying allegations or claiming “insufficient knowledge”.

Through nine affirmative defenses, Nehra claims his conduct didn’t “injure” TelexFree, and that the company received “reasonably equivalent value” for the money they paid him.

If TelexFree sustained any damages as alleged in the Complaint, which Nehra denies, such damages were caused by TelexFree’s own conduct or the conduct of third parties for which Nehra is not liable.

Pay a lawyer to go around proclaiming you’re not a Ponzi scheme, and then get shut down for being a $3 billion dollar Ponzi scheme.

Bit of a strange definition of “value” if you ask me.

Nehra hereby asserts its right to formally request a trial by jury on all issues presented in this matter, including but not limited to those issues identified in Debtors’ Complaint and Nehra’s Answer and Affirmative Defenses.

Nehra does not consent to a jury trial conducted by the bankruptcy court.

Nehra’s refusal to pay back TelexFree victims appears to be based on principle rather than logic.

Quite obviously it’s going to cost Nehra and Nehra & Waak over $20 thousand to defend the suit.

And the probability of a win?

You’ve got the DOJ suing TelexFree’s owners, the SEC suing the company, management and top investors, and parallel proceedings in Brazil that have already concluded TelexFree was a Ponzi scheme.

So even though TelexFree’s founders will likely be sent to jail by the DOJ, the SEC will win its lawsuit and all the top investors will have to pay back the funds they stole, Wanzeler’s family and Nehra are going to rock up to court and be like “lulz, what Ponzi?”

Not that I’m against legal proceedings and a jury trial. Infact in the case of Nehra I think it’ll be hilarious to cover.

Nehra was the face of TelexFree’s feigned legitimacy. Both Nehra and Nehra and Waak featured prominently on the TelexFree website as hired legal counsel for well over a year.

Nehra attended TelexFree events and repeatedly told investors there was nothing to worry about.

How on Earth you’d even begin to defend such conduct in court I have no idea.

As to Wanzeler’s family, they’ve got even less of a case. You’re related to the owner of a $3 billion Ponzi scheme, through which you received hundreds of thousands of dollars you’re not entitled to.

You have no defense and a jury will eat you alive.

Stay tuned…

 

Update 27th July 2024 – This update is a bit late but I’m noting that following James Merrill’s October 2016 guilty plea and March 2017 sentencing, Nehra settled with the TelexFree Receiver in March 2017.

Details of Nehra’s TelexFree settlement were not made public. A Stipulation of Dismissal of the Receiver’s claims was filed, which the court granted on March 27th, 2017.