James and Elizabeth Console Family v. United States
Published: Apr. 26, 2024 | Result Date: Sep. 18, 2023 | Filing Date: Apr. 11, 2023 |Case number: 3:23-cv-00652-DMS-JLB Bench Decision – Defendant
Judge
Court
USDC Southern District of California
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Juliet M. Keene
(Office of the U.S. Attorney)
Facts
After trying for several years to recover money they lost from their retirement accounts with Total Wealth Management, James and Elizabeth Console sued the United States, alleging that various government employees wrongfully delayed or declined to bring criminal charges against the individuals who had perpetrated a Ponzi-like scheme, targeting seniors and defrauding them of their retirement accounts. According to plaintiffs, these individuals had been involved in previous federal criminal cases, including a Securities Exchange Commission civil lawsuit in 2015, and the government knew of their Ponzi-type of schemes, yet still failed to bring criminal charges against them. After receiving no response from the government as to their complaints, they sued the United States in USDC Southern, arguing in part, that several laws including the Crime Crime Victims' Rights Act, Victims' Rights and Restitution Act and Principles of Federal Prosecution obligated the government to pursue actions against the defrauders.
Result
The court granted the United States motion to dismiss, reasoning that plaintiffs' claims derived from the government's exercise of prosecutorial discretion and thus were barred under the discretionary function exception and dismissed the case with prejudice.
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