UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, ALL FUNDS IN BLUFFVIEW SECURITIES ACCOUNTS, LP, Defendant,
v.
ANGELA MARIA GOMEZ AGUILAR; ENRIQUE FAUSTINO AGUILAR GOMEZ; GRUPO INTERNACIONAL DE ASESORES S.A., Claimants-Appellants
Argued and Submitted, Pasadena, California February 10, 2015.
Page 1102
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. D.C. No. 2:11-cv-05472-AHM-AGR. A. Howard Matz, District Judge, Presiding.
SUMMARY[*]
Default Judgment
The panel affirmed the district court's denial of claimants' Fed. R. Civ. 60(b)(1) motion to set aside a default judgment for forfeiture of funds held in a brokerage account. The panel held that courts reviewing a Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) motion to set aside a default judgment must apply the factors outlined in Falk v. Allen, 739 F.2d 461, 463 (9th Cir. 1984) (per curiam), to ensure that the " extreme circumstances" policy is recognized, but a district court is not required to articulate on the record particular " extreme circumstances" before it denies the motion. Applying the Falk factors, the panel held that claimants had no meritorious defense, and concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying their Rule 60(b)(1) motion.
Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha (argued) and Arash Sadat, White & Case LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Claimants-Appellants.
Jennifer Resnik (argued) and Robert E. Dugdale, Chief, Criminal Division, Assistant United States Attorneys, and André Birotte Jr., United States Attorney, Los Angeles, California, for Plaintiff-Appellee.
Before: Consuelo M. Callahan, Paul J. Watford, and John B. Owens, Circuit Judges.
OPINION
Page 1103
OWENS, Circuit Judge:
Angela Maria Gomez Aguilar (" Angela" ), Enrique Faustino Aguilar Gomez (" Enrique Jr." ), and Grupo Internacional de Asesores S.A. (" Grupo" ) (collectively the " Appellants" ) appeal the district court's denial of their Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1) motion to set aside a default judgment for forfeiture. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm.[1]
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
A. Preliminary Proceedings, Criminal Trial, and Dismissal
Angela and her husband Enrique Faustino Aguilar Noriega (" Enrique Sr." ) were stockholders of and controlled Grupo, a Panamanian corporation. In December 2008, as part of a long-term Foreign Corrupt ...