United States Ninth Circuit

In an appeal by several persons appointed as "Liquidators" of Eurofed Bank by an Antiguan court to assist in the collection and distribution of Eurofed's assets to its rightful, law-abiding owners, from a forfeiture order in favor of the U.S. government, the order is reversed where: 1) judicial estoppel barred the government from arguing that Liquidators could not raise their legal claims challenging forfeitability; and 2) a final judgment against the government in a civil forfeiture proceeding acted as res judicata against a criminal forfeiture proceeding with respect to the same property when the claims in the latter proceeding arose from the same transactional nucleus of facts.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/04/2011
• Published 01/04/2011

Judges

• Susan P. Graber

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Rory K. Little, Vijay Shanker