Gorneff v. Ilishayev

Background

Serge L. Gorneff, representing himself, sued Ruslan Ilishayev, Samira Assil, David Eisenberger, and Jeffrey Casio. The opinion identifies the defendants as vice presidents of Metropolitan Commercial Bank and gives the same New York, New York work address for all four defendants. Gorneff alleged that money connected to a Crypto.com and DeFi Crypto.com account was transferred into a pledging arrangement without his authorization, then blocked, leaving him unable to withdraw the funds. He alleged physical injuries and sought damages.

Gorneff cited numerous federal criminal statutes, including 18 U.S.C. § 371, and also appeared to assert state-law claims. The complaint did not clearly identify whether federal-question or diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction was intended. Gorneff alleged that he was a resident of West Virginia, but he did not state where each defendant lived. The opinion also contains two different damage figures: it says in the background that he sought $62,137, but later says he sought $67,137.

Court’s Analysis

Because Gorneff had permission to proceed without prepaying filing fees, the court was required to review the complaint and dismiss claims that were frivolous, malicious, failed to state a claim, or sought relief from an immune defendant. The court also had to dismiss claims over which it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction.

The court dismissed the federal criminal-law claims for failure to state a claim. It explained that the decision to prosecute belongs to prosecutors, and a private plaintiff cannot start or direct a criminal prosecution against another person.

The court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction—the court’s authority to hear related state-law claims after a federal claim is present—because it had dismissed the federal claims at an early stage. The court considered whether Gorneff could instead proceed under diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction. It concluded that the complaint did not establish that the parties were citizens of different states because it did not provide the defendants’ home addresses or residences. It also stated that the claimed amount was below the $75,000 jurisdictional minimum, using the $67,137 figure in that portion of the opinion.

Disposition

The court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim. It granted Gorneff 30 days to replead his state-law claims in an amended complaint alleging facts establishing diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction. If he did not file an amended complaint within that period, the court stated that it would enter judgment dismissing the case and decline supplemental jurisdiction over any state-law claims. The clerk was instructed to keep the action open until judgment was entered.

The court also certified that any appeal would not be taken in good faith and denied Gorneff permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal.