Oil & Gas

Meridian Trust Company and American Associated Group, Ltd., v. Eike Batista, EFG Capital International Corp., Paulo Gouvea et. al., Case No. 17-cv-23051-KMW, pending in the Southern District of Florida, is a massive fraud claim in which Plaintiffs, trust companies from the island of Nevis and the Cayman Islands, are seeking treble damages for investment losses in bonds of a Brazilian oil exploration company, OGX, that was at the center of a billion dollar international fraud alleged to have been perpetrated by a Brazilian national with the assistance of senior officers and directors of OGX and its affiliate companies as well as Banco Itaú and other banking institutions. MM&H was retained by Paulo Gouvea, the former board member and general counsel of OGX. The action was originally brought in Florida state court where an ex parte $63 million freeze order was initially entered that was reversed on appeal to the Third District Court of Appeal. MM&H used a mistake by Plaintiffs’ counsel in adding a bankruptcy counsel from Hayden’s prior firm as co-counsel to his client’s advantage. Attorney Hayden raised the conflict of interest and with the threat of possible disqualification by Plaintiffs’ lead counsel who had billed an aggregate of $15 million to date, Plaintiffs dismissed MM&H’s client without payment of any settlement. This high profile and big dollar claim continues against all other defendants. By obtaining this early confidential dismissal, Hayden avoided hundreds of thousands in fees and expenses and a possible monetary settlement or judgement for his client.

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