RICO Suit Against Puerto Rican Banks Re Iraqi Currency Business, and a Criminal Case

US v. DiTomasso, 08-2567, concerned a challenge to a conviction of defendant for failure to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).  In affirming the conviction, the court held that, in framing subsection (d), Congress did not contemplate a statutory scheme in which the application of the general rules outlined in subsections (a), (b), and (c) to previously convicted sex offenders would hinge on action by the Attorney General.  The court also held that the statute has a sufficient nexus to interstate commerce to survive the defendant's Commerce Clause challenge.  Lastly, because Rhode Island did maintain a sex offender registry at the time of defendant's federal crime, and because defendant could and should have registered there as local police directed him to do, there was no due process violation.

Mendez Internet Mgmt. Serv., Inc. v. Banco Santander De Puerto Rico, 09-1874, involved a plaintiff's suit against five banks and a consumer watchdog service, alleging federal causes of action based on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the Bank Holding Company Act (BHCA), as well as other causes of action, arising from the banks' refusal to provide plaintiff with accounts for his dinar (Iraqi currency) selling business.  In affirming the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), the court held that, lacking a proper allegation of either class of predicate acts, plaintiff's RICO claim fails at the pleading stage.  Further, plaintiff has not offered sufficient supporting facts to plead his BHCA claim.

Related Resources:

• Full text of US v. DiTomasso, 08-2567
• Full text of Mendez Internet Mgmt. Serv., Inc. v. Banco Santander De Puerto Rico, 09-1874