Patrick F. Palladino, a Partner in our Woodbury, New York office, achieved the dismissal of a federal RICO lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs, owners and developers of a 10.4-acre parcel of land designated as a historic site within the National Register of Historic Places in Fishkill, New York, alleged that local politicians, historians, archaeologists, and the clients, officers and members of a not-for-profit organization dedicated to honoring and preserving the site, collectively conspired to illegally halt the development of the site by falsely alleging through planted evidence and falsified studies, that the property was a burial ground for Revolutionary War soldiers. The clients alleged that on-site investigations and studies revealed the presence of bones, structures, and artifacts in areas beyond a confirmed smaller burial site, thus requiring the halting of a project to construct commercial and social space, an education center, restaurants, shops, and a hotel. After significant motion practice resulting in the plaintiffs being forced to amend their original Complaint four times, the court agreed with our arguments that the plaintiffs are unable to maintain their claims of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1962(c), and conspiracy to conduct racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1962(d), due to the lack of identifiable actionable predicate acts of mail and wire fraud. As a result, and due to plaintiffs’ prior multiple unsuccessful amendments to their pleadings, the court dismissed the action in its entirety with prejudice.

Practice Area: Condo, Co-Op & HOA Liability