| In Eaze and
Wirecard Trial of Weigand and Akhavan
Tassone Gets Immunity Deal To Talk
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Podcast
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 2 – The trial of US v.
Weigand and Akhavan began
before Judge Jed S. Rakoff in
the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York on March 1. Inner City
Press, which has been covering
the case including its
Wirecard aspects, live tweeted
Day 1, here
and below.
On March 2,
evidence began - and witnesses
with immunity deals.
(Tassone's immunity deal is
now on Patreon, here).
Inner City Press tweeted in
Day 2, here:
Jury is not yet
in the courtroom. Judge Rakoff
is ruling on objections, in
this case to 1st witness,
alleged co-conspirator from
"Wildflower." Defense
objection: hearsay and
relevance. Overruled.
Defense:
Hearsay within hearsay. Judge
Rakoff: Not offered for its
truth. So, overruled... The
juror said he'd be at Grand
Central by 9:30, which would
have put him here by now. But
he's not. This might take a
while.
Update:
while now at 11:40 the lawyers
are milling around the
courtroom, the first witness
(from Eaze ) described
operations around 2015, home
delivery of pot for cash, then
the transition to taking
cards. When asked, he said he
has a Freedom card from Chase
Bank
Update: Things
are plodding along, witness in
Plexiglass box being asking
about his emails to
EUprocessing at protonmail
about charge-backs.
Finally:
cross-examination. Q: Isn't
one of your goals to
have @Eaze come
out of this going well?
Witness: Yes. I
work for them. Those I'm paid
by Stacks. I have stock
grants. They are options. They
have vested but I have not
purchased them.
Q: On
direct you said you believed
you were a participant in a
scheme to commit bank fraud.
But delivering marijuana is
legal? Judge: End in 2
minutes.
Defense: I have
six questions. Is selling
marijuana legal? A: In
California. Not in the eyes of
the US.
Q: Is it legal if
they pay with a debit card? A:
Yes it is.
Q: But not with a
credit card?
A: That is my
understanding.
Defense: We can
take a break.
Judge Rakoff:
We've off to a good start.
Inner City
Press will stay on the case.
For now, a summary: "ORDER as
to Ruben Weigand, Hamid
Akhavan: ORDERED that,
pursuant to Title 18, United
States Code, Sections 6002 and
6003, TASSONE give testimony
and provide other information
as to all matters about which
he may be questioned in United
States v. Hamid Akhavan, et
al.; and IT IS FURTHER ORDERED
that, pursuant to Title 18,
United States Code, Sections
6002 and 6003, no testimony or
other information compelled
under this Order, or any
information directly or
indirectly derived from such
testimony or other
information, may be used
against TASSONE in any
criminal case, except a
prosecution for perjury,
giving a false statement, or
otherwise failing to comply
with this Order. This order
shall become effective only if
after the date of this Order
TASSONE refuses to testify or
provide other information on
the basis of his privilege
against self-incrimination.
(Signed by Judge Jed S. Rakoff
on 3/2/2021)"
Tassone's full
immunity deal on Patreon here.
From Day 1, March 1: Assistant
US Attorney: You're going to
hear a lot about a company
these two men were lying for.
It is called Eaze . It
is a marijuana company. It
marketed itself as the Uber of
pot. But it wanted its
customers to be able to use
credit cards. But it had a
problem
AUSA: These
purchases are still illegal
under Federal law. So these
two men offered to trick US
credit card companies and
banks. They lied. They created
layer upon layer of lies.
AUSA:
You're also going to here
about credit card
networks. Visa and
MasterCard are at the center.
They set rules that banks have
to follow. The merchants work
with merchant banks. Then you
have card-holder or issuing
banks. You might have a BofA
card, or Wells
AUSA: They
claimed they were selling
organic face cream. But it was
a lie. Step 3 - the defendants
hid transactions in the VISA
and MasterCard network.
The goal was to prevent the
banks from understanding the
true nature of the
transactions.
AUSA: The
card holder banks wanted to
know who they were doing
business with. But they were
tricked, for transactions
worth at least $150 million.
That is the scheme. Let's
start with Hamid Akhavan, or
Ray. He was the leader. He
hired a team to purchase shell
companies.
AUSA: Akhavan
brought in Weigand, who had
connections with the overseas
merchant bank accounts. The
defendants are charged with
one count of conspiring to
commit bank fraud. We have
Weigand's computer from when
he was arrested. It shows the
fraud. AUSA: You will hear
from the former CEO of
Eaze [that's Patterson,
just pled guilty with a
cooperation deal just before
trial]. You will also hear
from someone who set up the
fake companies, fake websites,
fake traffic
AUSA: @eaze
's former CEO hopes to receive
leniency at sentencing for his
testimony. So you should
scrutinize it. I'm going
to sit down... The defendants
are guilty. Defense lawyer:
Who are the supposed victims?
Not the card holders...
Defense
lawyer: The big banks just
want plausible deniability.
They continue to this day, to
this day, selling marijuana
using debit cards. The banks
did not lose one cent.
Marijuana sales are legal in
California and Oregon, where
these transactions took place.
Defense lawyer:
Look at the form they have
people sign: You will not use
your card for transaction that
are illegal. But it's legal in
California and Oregon. And
there's not mention of
marijuana in these credit card
contracts. Gambling yes,
marijuana no
Defense
lawyer: As the prosecutor
said, there will be an
Eaze witness with a
cooperation agreement.
[Patterson] You will learn
that two others still work at
Eaze. They haven't been fired.
They're still there. Eaze
still doesn't use a code for
marijuana
Defense lawyer:
There was another man, Oliver,
who set up these websites
after he was already
cooperating with the
government. There is an
objection; overruled. Defense
lawyer: Sorry for putting my
head out [of the plexiglass
counsel's box], I couldn't
hear you
2d Defense lawyer
(for Weigand) - You can still
use a credit card to buy
marijuana through @eaze
. As far as Reuben is
concerned, his focus was not
on Eaze but on Europe and the
merchant banks in Europe, not
US issuing banks.
Weigand's
lawyer: So how is he here? He
was headed to vacation in
Costa Rica, connecting flight
in LA, he was arrested by FBI.
Before Reuben, Eaze was a
Silicon Valley darling, the
Uber of pot. It had big money
investors, who wanted it to
use credit cards.
Weigand's lawyer:
Reuben is from Germany. He ran
a company called Payment
Consultants-- AUSA: Objection!
Judge Rakoff: Sustained.
Weigand's lawyer: He traveled
to a trade show in the US, at
Ray Akhavan's office.
Judge Rakoff (to
jury) - Both sides are
predicting different things
you'll hear in the evidence.
This is just supposed to give
you an overview. Counsel, I'd
suggest you trim your remarks
a little bit. D: The merchant
banks in Europe were accepted
by Visa and MC
Weigand's
lawyer: How can you defraud
someone you're not even
thinking about? Reuben Weigand
is not guilty. Judge Rakoff:
OK, ladies and gentlemen, I'll
see you tomorrow. But wait
there's more: with jury done,
Judge Rakoff is taking up some
objections that were made.
AUSA: The evidence of what Mr.
Weigand said on that
particular call is just
hearsay. Judge Rakoff: The
cooperator was being asked to
elicit incriminating
statements
Judge Rakoff:
...and lo & behold, there
was nothing incriminating. Why
isn't that admissible?
AUSA: The
government has not intend of
introducing those calls. Judge
Rakoff, final quip: There's no
juror who has other than total
devotion to hearing your
testimony
The case is US
v. Weigand,
20-cr-188
(Rakoff).
***
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