Lawsuit: Adjourned Westray v. Tello [2023] FCR 26

[Westray]

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
CIVIL ACTION


Westray
Plaintiff

v.

Tello
Defendant

COMPLAINT
The Plaintiff complains against the Defendant as follows:

WRITTEN STATEMENT FROM THE PLAINTIFF
On May 29 2022, I opened an account with the Tello company and deposited a large sum of $100,000. I had then later on gave away much of my stuff, but informed the bank I would like to keep the account for if any friends and associates required money. I was assured personally by executives of Tello bank that my money specifically would be secure even if I was away for a long period of time. Here is a timeline of events:

May 29 2022: I opened a ticket to create a savings account with Tello and deposited a total of $100,000.
December 31 2022: Tello issued a "notice of bankruptcy" and implied they would take measures to repay all creditors.
January 12 2023: An announcement was made in the Tello discord that all deposits and liabilities of Tello has been sold to Meridian Group.
January 30 2023: I opened a ticket in the Meridian Group discord to inquire about money he had with Tello. The Plaintiff was informed by xeu100 that they were "not really sure what was happening" and they were no longer an employee of Tello or Meridian.
February 12 2023: I opened a ticket in the Tello Group discord to request a full record of his savings account and the deposits. I was informed by xeu100 that they had no information.
February 12-13 2023: I opened a ticket with the Department of Commerce. I was informed that Tello had compiled a list of deposits which they made efforts to repay a portion back. However, I was informed that Tello did not include my name on such list.

Despite continued efforts to find out the whereabouts of the money I deposited, Tello has not been able to provide me with an answer. Every time I have made reasonable effort to get this information, I have been told that nobody works at the company. At this point, this is not just negligence, but highway robbery.

Attached is a visual representation of the Plaintiff's feelings:

I. PARTIES
1. Westray
2. Tello Bank
3. All executives and associates of Tello bank and/or Meridian Group, including but not limited to, xeu100

II. FACTS
1. The Plaintiff deposited a considerably large sum of $100,000 into the Tello bank saving's account, and was assured that the money would be kept safe even if the Plaintiff was to go inactive [Exhibit 1].
2. Tello announced bankruptcy on December 31 2022, and said that they would take measures to ensure that all creditors would be repaid. According to the Department of Commerce, the Plaintiff's name was not on Tello's financial records when they filed [Exhibit 2].
3. The Plaintiff has made several efforts to request information and documentation about the whereabouts of the missing $100,000 deposited and their account information. Despite this, the company has been unable to properly answer these requests [Exhibit 3 and 4].

III. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF
1. In accordance with the Financial Services Act, banks and financial institutions have a lawful duty to protect the money that they were trusted with. Tello bank had a duty to protect their client's assets to which they failed to do so when they lost the Plaintiff's $100,000 deposit.
2. Tello did not include the Plaintiff's name and account on their record of depositors, either willfully or inadvertently engaging in fraudulent or at least misleading behaviour.
3. Xeu100 and all Tello associates are negligent for failing to retain the appropriate records and documentation of accounts, and for refusing to provide them upon reasonable request.

IV. PRAYER FOR RELIEF
The Plaintiff seeks the following from the Defendant:
1. Compensatory damages of $100,000 (the total that was stolen from the Plaintiff)
2. Additional damages of $3000 for the issues caused by the Defendant

(Attach evidence and a list of witnesses at the bottom if applicable)

By making this submission, I agree I understand the penalties of lying in court and the fact that I am subject to perjury should I knowingly make a false statement in court.

DATED: This 14th day of February 2023

 

[JoeGamer]

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
WRIT OF SUMMONS

Tello Bank is required to appear before the court in the case of Westray v. Tello. Failure to appear within 48 hours of this summons will result in a default judgment in favor of the plaintiff.

I'd also like to remind both parties to be aware of the Court Rules and Procedures, including the option of an in-game trial should both parties request one.

Under Part II Section 19 of the Redmont Constitution, I will preside over this case since all other Judges have recused themselves from this case.​

 

[Aezal]

I request to file an amicus brief to the court regarding this case, in relation to my position as CRB Governor.

 

[Westray]

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
WRIT OF SUMMONS

Tello Bank is required to appear before the court in the case of Westray v. Tello. Failure to appear within 48 hours of this summons will result in a default judgment in favor of the plaintiff.

I'd also like to remind both parties to be aware of the Court Rules and Procedures, including the option of an in-game trial should both parties request one.

Under Part II Section 19 of the Redmont Constitution, I will preside over this case since all other Judges have recused themselves from this case.​

Your honour, 48 hours elapsed on last Sunday.

The Defendant has failed to respond to the summons,

As noted in the business registration of Tello, linked here, it is evidenced that xeu100 is the lawful owner of the Tello Corporation. In his registration, he advertises "rapid withdrawals" and refers to it as "Redmont's best bank" as well.

Furthermore, the Defendant is unable to argue that they or their legal counsel did not see this case, as I found the Defendant reading this thread yesterday. Attached in a screenshot below shows what I took yesterday at around 5:47pm EST.

Thank you, your honour.

 

[JoeGamer]

Seeing as the defendant has not responded to this case, a default judgment is entered. The Court will now stand in recess pending a written verdict.

 

[JoeGamer]

I request to file an amicus brief to the court regarding this case, in relation to my position as CRB Governor.

The request to file an amicus brief is accepted. The CRB governor has 24 hours to post their brief.

 

[Aezal]

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF REDMONT
Amicus Curiae Brief

Tello is an interesting case study of a banking collapse. Unfortunately, as a result of Tello's collapse, depositors, such as Westray, were hurt.

I believe a history of Tello's actions right before its collapse are in order. Tello swapped ownership many times, however, it was under the ownership of xeu100 that Tello finally met its end. One issue that occurs in this part of the story is Tello losing its insurance status with the CRB after misconduct by xeu100, though this was previous to them taking leadership of Tello right before it ended. Now, under xeu100's leadership, Tello found themselves in a precarious situation, corned in with legal issues and accounting issues from its past, xeu100 decided to attempt to shelf at least the legal issues by "ending" Tello and moving to a new company, Meridian Bank. This transfer did in fact fail though, and the move to Meridian Bank was never to be.

This history is worrisome as it shows a history of Tello attempting to skirt legal issues, perhaps now manifesting in their failure to appear in court.

From records which the CRB has received, Tello also has appeared to have accounting issues, in this case, Westray's account missing from their depositor listings spreadsheet.

Regardless of the particular circumstances of this situation. It is certain that the failures of financial institutions and their repercussions must not be taken lightly. While the CRB has taken steps to lighten the damages of such failures previously, financial institutions must begin to take accountability, otherwise the future of the sector is at stake.

This case in particular, is rather pivotal. Should a financial institution, or rather any company at that, be able to decide to vanish and not suffer any repercussions? Is it fair for hardworking Redmontians to suffer the consequences? Certainly not.

Aezal

 

[JoeGamer]

Verdict

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
VERDICT
Westray v. Tello [2023] FCR 26

I. PLAINTIFF'S POSITION
1. The plaintiff made a savings account with Tello Bank and deposited $100,000.
2. Tello Bank issued a notice of bankruptcy and notified the public that all liabilities had been sold off to The Meridian Group.
3. The plaintiff was informed by Xeu100 that no records of the $100,000 deposit exist.
4. Banks and financial institutions have a duty

II. DEFENDANT'S POSITION
1. Failed to appear; default judgment entered.

III. THE COURT OPINION

Due to the defendant's failure to respond, it gives the Federal Court little option in its decision-making. I’m disappointed in the defendant's failure to appear even after looking at this case. Given that this case has entered a default judgment, it gives me very little option in the outcome in this case, and therefore should not be used as foundational precedent.
It is clear but the evidence available to this Court that Westray deposited $100,000 to Tello failed to provide the money when asked citing that the records simply did not exist. Given that this case has defaulted there isn’t much more interpretation the Court needs to do.
I believe there is much more to this case that should be argued in Court, but due to the defendant not responding the Court can’t do much. This case could have heard arguments about the duty of financial institutions and bankruptcy law but now those arguments won’t be heard. I’m very disappointed that the owner of Tello Bank and The Meridian Group.

IV. DECISION
Due to the default judgment, I hereby rule in favor of the plaintiff and order the following:
$100,000 in Compensatory Damages be paid to the plaintiff.
$3,000 in Punitive Damages be paid to the plaintiff
This money is to be taken from the Tello Bank and The Meridian Group. If there are additional questions, you may contact the Federal Court’s office.

The Federal Court thanks all involved.