United States v. All Funds on Deposit At

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
____________________________________
)
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, )
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Plaintiff, )
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v. ) Civil Action No. 04-0798 (PLF)
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ALL ASSETS HELD AT BANK JULIUS )
Baer & Company, Ltd., Guernsey )
Branch, account number 121128, in the )
Name of Pavlo Lazarenko et al., )
)
Defendants In Rem. )
____________________________________)
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
On April 30, 2020, following this Court’s opinion striking Pavel Lazarenko’s
claim to the Balford Trust, the United States filed a motion [Dkt. No. 1256] to strike the claims
of Ekaterina Lazarenko and Lecia Lazarenko to the Balford Trust. That same day, Ekaterina
Lazarenko and Lecia Lazarenko (the “Lazarenko daughters”) filed a motion [Dkt. No. 1259] for
summary judgment on the United States’ allegations related to the Balford Trust. In their
motion, the Lazarenko daughters argue that the United States is time-barred from seeking
forfeiture of the Balford Trust. See Dkt. No. 1259 at 1. On August 4, 2020, the United States
filed its sealed opposition [Dkt. No. 1342]. It filed a redacted version of its opposition [Dkt. No.
1339] on August 10, 2020. The Lazarenko daughters filed their reply [Dkt. No. 1363] on
October 2, 2020.
On September 7, 2021, this Court granted the United States’ motion to strike the
Lazarenko daughters’ claims to the Balford Trust. United States v. All Assets Held at Bank
Julius, Civil Action No. 04-0798, 2021 WL 4060353, at *16 (D.D.C. Sept. 7, 2021). The Court
concluded that the Lazarenko daughters lacked constitutional standing to contest forfeiture of the
Balford Trust. Id. at *14. “[S]tanding . . . is jurisdictional.” Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 349
n.1 (1996). “It is well established, [therefore], that before a federal court can consider the merits
of a legal claim, the person seeking to invoke the jurisdiction of the court must establish the
requisite standing to sue.” Whitmore v. Arkansas, 495 U.S. 149, 154 (1990). Because this Court
has concluded that the Lazarenko daughters lack constitutional standing to assert a claim to the
Balford Trust, the Court does not have jurisdiction to consider the merits of the Lazarenko
daughters’ motion for summary judgment on the United States’ allegations related to the Balford
Trust.
Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED that the Lazarenko daughters’ motion [Dkt. No. 1259] for summary
judgment on the United States’ allegations related to the Balford Trust is DENIED.
SO ORDERED.
/s/
PAUL L. FRIEDMAN
United States District Judge
DATE: September 10, 2021
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