City of New York v. CitiSource, Inc.
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
679 F. Supp. 393 (1988)
New York City (plaintiff) sued CitiSource and its principals Friedman and Kaplan (defendants) under RICO after Friedman and Kaplan were criminally convicted of bribing city officials with CitiSource stock to secure a $22.7 million municipal contract. After a related civil-forfeiture attachment against their bank accounts was vacated on double-jeopardy grounds, Friedman called his bank to inquire about withdrawing funds, and Kaplan tried to transfer funds out of a retirement trust account, prompting the City to seek its own pre-judgment attachment of the same accounts in this civil RICO action.
Whether a plaintiff who is likely to succeed on the merits is entitled to a pre-judgment attachment when the defendant, with intent to defraud creditors or frustrate enforcement of a future judgment, has assigned, disposed of, encumbered, or secreted property, or is about to do so.