The Lithuanian Court of Appeal has issued a favourable decision for our client, Omni Bridgeway, allowing the enforcement in Lithuania of a judgment by the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ordering Austrian businessman D.M. to pay USD 16.8 million. The claim states that D.M. holds an account with UAB Revolut Bank.
Case moved from the US to Lithuania
In 2010, D.M. founded Jumio in the United States – a company providing mobile payment and identity verification solutions. As reported by the Financial Times, in 2014 he invited investors to purchase shares of the rapidly growing company on the secondary market, while declining to dilute his own holdings. Officially, Jumio claimed revenues of more than USD 100 million in 2013, but the company declared bankruptcy in 2016.
It later emerged that actual revenues amounted to only about one-tenth of the reported figure, rendering the company’s shares worthless. During this period, D.M., acting as CEO, sold part of his shares for approximately USD 14 million, bypassing the board. The bankruptcy proceedings found that his intentional actions and misrepresentation of financial information contributed significantly to the company’s collapse.
Jumio’s bankruptcy administrator, JMO Wind Down Liquidating Trust, assigned its claim to Omni Bridgeway SA, which initiated proceedings to have the default judgment recognised and enforced in the Netherlands and Lithuania.
Although D.M. argued that the US default judgment was issued in breach of his right to be heard, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal found no basis for this claim. The court authorised enforcement of the Delaware judgment in Lithuania and dismissed the applications to stay the proceedings and to impose interim measures.
Our team and services
Our client was successfully represented in the case by partner Kęstutis Švirinas, senior associate Aušra Gaurytė-Tuskenė and associate Luka Tamulionytė.
