XM Opposes Defendants' Motion to Strike in Handset Trafficking Case

Globalgurutech’s motion to strike paragraphs and exhibits from Xfinity Mobile’s handset trafficking complaint against the phone reseller on grounds they would prejudice a jury (see 2212210046) should be denied because those elements are relevant to XM's case, said XM's opposition (docket 2:22-cv-01950) filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Phoenix. The motion to strike was “premature” and the defendants failed to demonstrate prejudice, said XM. Globalgurutech argued in its motion to strike that evidence of illegal cellphone schemes involving other people and organizations were “immaterial as to whether these defendants have done anything unlawful,” said the plaintiff’s response, but this “is simply not true.” The defendants attempted to draw “arbitrary distinctions” among schemes based on the number of phones stolen or the number of individuals involved,” said the response, “but the modus operandi is the same: the fraudsters unlawfully acquire and re-sell phones and deprive those companies of the financial investment in those phones." Globalgurutech argued in its motion to strike that the plaintiff’s supporting exhibits included judgments involving unrelated parties with “completely different fact patterns.” The defendant’s motion cites allegations that Globalgurutech owner Jakob Zahara bought and sold 13 Xfinity phones vs. a criminal indictment of 101 individuals involved in a transnational cellphone-trafficking conspiracy involving 70,000 stolen phones. Xfinity’s complaint also had information about “unrelated matters” including a news article about the indictment of 10 people involved in counterfeit cellphone trafficking; a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota regarding the Mustafa Family Crime Organization’s involvement in cellphone trafficking, identify theft and tax fraud; a Huffington Post article about global smartphone trafficking referencing armed robbery and the Hezbollah terrorist organization; and a CBS News article about the Department of Homeland Security raiding two small electronics stores in Detroit.