Facts

Government App Solutions, Inc. is a California corporation. On April 18, 2021, it filed suit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California; Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Anderson; Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy S. Hitchcock; FBI Special Agent Rebekah Bills; FBI agent Rachel LaChapelle; the City of New Haven, Connecticut; Kevin Johnson, former Mayor of Sacramento; Nicole West, an individual; Toni Harp, the former Mayor of New Haven; Daryl Jones, Controller of New Haven; Andrea Scott, Harp's executive assistant; Michael Tubbs, former Mayor of Stockton; Daniel Lopez, senior advisor to Tubbs; and Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: The plaintiff contended that it engaged in the business of providing a crowdsourcing platform with software and technical support to municipalities throughout the United States to increase road safety, reduce distracted driving, issue and collect parking tickets, and to improve community living conditions; in January 2018, it entered into an oral contract with an individual named Derek Bluford to obtain contracts with municipalities to utilize the platform for various municipal functions; the Defendant U.S. Attorney's Office indicted Bluford for wire fraud and other crimes in January 2018; that in October 2018, Bluford began cooperating in connection with an investigation of public corruption; that Bluford was instructed to assist the Defendant FBI with sting operations by offering and delivering bribes to mayors and municipal employees in exchange for contracting to use the plaintiff's services; that Bluford delivered cash bribes or arranged for online payments to Defendants Harp and Tubbs; that Defendant Garcetti agreed to accept such a payment; in February 2020, the FBI informed the plaintiff that its New Haven contract had not been obtained in good faith but offered no further information; that it learned of the bribe scheme and the use of its name in association with it after Bluford published a book in October 2020; and that as a result of the scheme, it has lost all value as a viable company because no municipality will do business with it. The plaintiff asserted claims for violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act; two state law negligence claims; a breach of contract claim; and a state law theft claim.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: The defendants denied any wrongdoing or liability. Moreover, the defendants contended that the plaintiff lacked standing to pursue its RICO claims because it could not demonstrate the bribery scheme was the proximate cause of its injuries.

Result

The court granted the defendant's motions to dismiss for the plaintiff's lack of standing.

Other Information

Plaintiff has appealed the dismissal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Case No. 23-15708.