In Other Media-eg New Statesman, AJE, FP, Georgia, NYT,  Azerbaijan, CSM Click here to contact us     .

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Oct 5 – There was a proceeding in BSG Resources (Guinea) v. George Soros, et al., on February 5, 2021 and  Inner City Press covered and live tweeted it, below.

On August 17, Soros' lawyers wrote  to demand deposition of Beny Steinmetz and Dag Cramer. Plaintiff's lawyers have replied that the Soros demand is improper as it was not prefaced by any meet and confer.

Judge Keenan issued an "ORDER denying as moot [274] Letter Motion to Compel...  Should Mr. Cramer and Mr. Steinmetz fail to appear for their 30(b)(1) depositions as ordered previously, they will be in violation of a Court Order, and Defendants may move for sanctions and other relief, as appropriate."

But on August 18, Dag Cramer through counsel wrote in to say he never said he agreed to be deposed, and cannot and will not do so on August 24.

On August 20, Cramer's counsel wrote that "Mr. Cramer is willing to submit to a voluntary deposition on September 23 or 30...through Zoom."

On August 23, this: "ORDER granting in part and denying in part [283] Letter Motion for Conference re: [283] This Court's Order (ECF 258) is stayed as it relates to Mr. Cramer only. Mr. Cramer shall be deposed September 23 or 30, 2021. This is a Court-ordered date based on counsel's representation that he will appear. Failure to appear will be treated as a violation of this Order and may result in sanctions. Mr. Cramer may be deposed up to an additional two hours on the issue of scheduling his deposition, and communications related to the same. If the parties cannot agree on how this time will be shared, Defendants and Plaintiffs will split the time (i.e., one hour each), with Defendants going first. If Mr. Cramer intends to assert any privilege over any communications with David Barnett or Barnea Jaffa Lande ("Barnea"), he is directed to file a letter brief no longer than 5 pages by September 7, 2021, identifying the privilege. Any responsive briefing by any party shall be filed by September 10, 2021. After Mr. Cramer's deposition is completed, the Court will allow the parties, Mr. Cramer, his counsel, Mr. Barnett, and Barnea, an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence concerning the availability of, and legal basis for, any sanctions and/or fee or cost-shifting."

But now on October 5, the assigned Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang has ordered: "The case is stayed an additional week, to October 12, 2021. On October 12, 2021, Plaintiffs are directed to file a letter identifying a timeline for dismissing the case. There shall be no other filings in the meantime, unless it is a filing dismissing the case. (HEREBY ORDERED by Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang)."

  For context, Plaintiffs' counsel on October 4 wrote that they are "seeking a brief 14 day extension of the stay so that Joint Administrators can try to amicably dispose of the case without incurring more costs and distractions."

Watch this site.

From Feb 5, 2021: Plaintiiff's counsel: There were several presidents of Guinea during the time period, until George Soros got involved with the new president and changed all the rights... Soros or him minions told us with sufficient money or bribes we could keep our rights.

 Plaintiff's counsel: Judge Keenan correct described our allegations as George Soros corrupting the process in Guinea. Our claims are against Soros, not the government of Guinea.

Judge Wang: Is it pronounced Vah-lay or Vail?  A: Vah-lay... 

Judge Wang: And when was what you call the kangaroo court? 

Plaintiff's counsel: Sorry, it was a kangaroo administrative tribunal.... George Soros came on the scene with President Conde

Soros' counsel: BSG is affiliated with Beny Steinmetz. They began under a military regime. Alpha Conde was elected in 2010. Under him, an administrative tribunal found there had been bribes to the fourth wife of a previous president.  

Soros' counsel: We disagree with Judge Keenan's decision. But here we are.

 Judge Wang directs the parties to do directed discovery then submit a status letter.

The case is BSG Resources (Guinea) Limited et al v. Soros et al., 17-cv-2726 (Keenan / Wang)

***

Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.

Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA

Mail: Box 20047, Dag Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017

Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

 Copyright 2006-2021 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com