The US lawyer suing mob boss Daniel Kinahan has taken the battle directly to him – with the case being heard in a Dubai court.
This paper has learned that former marine Eric Montalvo got a hearing before a court in the United Arab Emirates – in an effort to advance his case against Kinahan.
The UAE court then directed that Kinahan be served with a summons in the case – which to date he hasn’t engaged with at all.
Montalvo is suing former boxing firm MTK Global and Kinahan on behalf of promoter Moses Heredia, who is seeking damages of up to $20million (€18.4m) for the alleged poaching of boxer JoJo Diaz.
Heredia has already indicated that he intends to give a portion of that money to the families of innocent victims of the Kinahan cartel – and now his lawyer believes assets seized by the US government could be used to pay him.
Now we can reveal for the first time that such is Mr Montalvo’s dedication to finalise the case that he recently had the matter heard before a court in Kinahan’s Middle Eastern bolthole.
In documents seen by this paper, Kinahan was “successfully” served in the case thanks to the assistance of the UAE court.
Court documents reveal that Kinahan was served with a summons in the case “under the direction and assistance of the UAE court”. It is understood Kinahan is being represented by a lawyer based in the UAE – who was served in his stead.
However so far Kinahan has failed to launch any legal defence in the case – and now Mr Montalvo is seeking a default judgement.
Kinahan, who was hit with massive sanctions by the United States government almost one year ago today, hasn’t been seen in public since that time.
Speaking to this paper recently Mr Montalvo said he is now more confident than ever that the case will go his way.
He says sanctions imposed upon the Kinahans by the US Treasury Department last year effectively means they cannot launch any legal defence.
Mr Montalvo added: “Yes I’m confident, because the United States government has made a determination that money laundering has occurred and some assets have been seized. So we are effectively victims of crime. Therefore I feel very optimistic that we will achieve a settlement that addresses the harm.”
Last April the US government imposed crippling sanctions on Kinahan and issued a $15m (€13.8m) reward for info that could lead to his prosecution.
As a result of those sanctions US assets considered to be connected to Kinahan were seized – and Mr Montalvo now believes they can be used to pay his client.
He said: “The assets appear to be available so yes I feel there is a high degree of certainty we will be able to, if we obtain a judgment amount, that we will be able to collect on that judgement amount. For the purposes of civil litigation I don’t actually need to physically get to him [Daniel Kinahan], I just need to get to the amount of money.”
The US Drug Enforcement Agency is leading the massive transnational investigation into Kinahan, who is still believed to be holed up in Dubai.
Almost a year on since the investigation was announced, Mr Montalvo believes the DEA will soon have Kinahan in custody.
He said: “So as far as the DEA is concerned, I obviously as a former prosecutor am very confident of the capability of our law enforcement here in the US.
“I’m very familiar with the process, capability and the cooperation that is entered into with various governments because you know the DEA can’t do anything on their own.
“What they have to do is rely upon partners in other jurisdictions to help facilitate things.”
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