DirecTV asked the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas in Tyler for an entry of default against four of the defendants for failing to answer its Nov. 1 fraud complaint, said a filing Monday (docket 6:22-cv-00423). “Defendants have failed to file any pleadings or otherwise defend the case,” nor has any appearance been entered “by them or by anyone on their behalf,” said DirecTV. Its complaint named 10 defendants, plus 10 John Does and 10 “XYZ” companies, alleging they and their co-conspirators “are perpetrators of an unlawful scheme to enrich themselves” by impersonating DirecTV telemarketers (see 2211010049).

James Cecchi, with Cecchi Byrne, became the first attorney to file notice Monday he will present oral argument Jan. 26 as the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation weighs various motions to consolidate more than a dozen class actions against Samsung and transfer them to a single district judge. Cecchi represents nine plaintiffs in three class actions arising out of Samsung’s summertime data breach. They favor consolidating the cases and transferring them to U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark, where their cases are currently pending. In preparation for oral argument in late January, the panel set a Jan. 3 deadline for attorneys to declare their intentions to present oral argument or to waive oral argument (see 2212190025).

U.S. District Judge Michael Anello for Southern California in San Diego signed an order Friday (docket 3:22-cv-01716) granting the joint motion of plaintiff Michael Scriber and defendant Ford to extend the deadline to Feb. 6 for Ford to respond to Scriber’s breach of warranty, unfair competition and fraudulent omission class action. Scriber brought the allegations Nov. 3 to remedy violations of law after the internet-enabled features on his 2020 Ford Fusion Energi “were rendered inoperable after AT&T’s 3G phase out in 2022 due to Ford’s installation of obsolete telematics equipment,” said the complaint (see 2211070032).

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation set Jan. 26 for oral argument in the various motions to consolidate the multiple data breach class actions against Samsung under a single judge, said a Friday notice (case number 3055). Jan. 3 is the deadline for filing a notice of presentation or waiving an appearance at oral argument, said the notice. Plaintiff Angela Robinson immediately became the first to waive oral argument, but she supports centralizalizing the cases and transferring them to the U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark, where her own case (docket 1:22-cv-05722) is currently pending, said her waiver.

U.S. District Judge Scott Hardy for Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh signed an order Thursday granting the joint motion of plaintiff Kenneth Hasson and defendant Samsung to stay Hasson’s fraud class action (see 2212150037) arising out of a summer data breach as all parties in the various class actions await the decision of the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to consolidate all the cases and transfer them to a single judge. If the panel denies consolidating the cases, attorneys for Hasson and Samsung will confer and jointly submit a proposed order lifting the stay and also propose a deadline for Samsung's response to Hasson’s complaint, said Hardy’s order. Samsung suggested strongly in an early-November filing it will base its defenses in the various class actions on a motion to compel the disputes to arbitration (see 2211030006). Plaintiffs in the roughly 14 class actions pending against Samsung appear evenly divided between those who want the cases transferred to the Northern District of California or the District of New Jersey. Samsung wants the cases transferred to the U.S. District Court for Nevada.

Plaintiff Kenneth Hasson and Samsung jointly submitted a motion Wednesday asking the U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh to stay Hasson’s complaint against the electronics company until the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation makes a ruling about consolidating the 14 Samsung data breach cases and transferring them to a single judge. Hasson filed a class action (docket 2:22-cv-01669) against Samsung Nov. 23 (see 2211250025) alleging the company failed to follow “basic security procedures,” resulting in a data breach that affected the plaintiff and “millions of other consumers.” Amid the possibility that Hasson’s action might not proceed in the Pittsburgh court, he and Samsung agree a stay would “save judicial and party resources,” said their joint motion. If the judicial panel denies consolidating the various cases, the parties will confer and submit a joint motion lifting the stay, it said.

U.S. District Judge John Walter for Central California in Los Angeles denied the motion of defendants Ring and Home Depot to compel plaintiff Alison White’s dispute to arbitration, said the civil minutes of a proceeding Monday (docket 2:22-cv-06909). Walter granted White’s stipulation with the defendants to file her second amended complaint (see 2212090048), and ordered her to do so by the close of business Tuesday, rendering moot the defendants’ alternative motion to dismiss. White is newly asserting a three-step process to support her claim that Ring and Home Depot misrepresented that Ring’s Jobsite Security 5-Piece Starter Kit, when properly configured, will contact the authorities automatically if a home's security system is breached.

DirecTV asked the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas in Tyler to enter default against four of the defendants in an alleged imposter fraud scheme for failing to answer DirecTV’s complaint, said a filing Monday (docket 6:22-cv-00423). The Nov. 1 complaint named 10 defendants, plus 10 John Does and 10 “XYZ” companies, alleging they and their co-conspirators “are perpetrators of an unlawful scheme to enrich themselves” by impersonating DirecTV telemarketers (see 2211010049). The culprits typically contact existing or potential DirecTV customers “to offer them nonexistent free or significantly discounted” services or products, and then they take the consumer’s money, usually in the form of prepaid gift cards that are subsequently laundered, it said. The defendants “have failed to file any pleadings or otherwise defend the case, nor has any appearance been entered by them or by anyone on their behalf,” said the declaration of DirecTV attorney Gail Podolsky of Carlton Fields.

A former T-Mobile retail store owner was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for stealing T-Mobile employee credentials and illegally accessing the carrier’s internal computer systems to illicitly unlock and unblock cellphones, said the DOJ Monday. U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson of the Central District of California also ordered Argishti Khudaverdyan of Burbank, California, to pay $28.47 million in restitution, the DOJ said. From August 2014 to June 2019, Khudaverdyan fraudulently unlocked and unblocked cellphones on T-Mobile’s network, plus Sprint, AT&T and other networks, DOJ said, allowing the phones to be sold on the black market. Removing the lock allowed T-Mobile customers to stop using the carrier’s services and deprive the company of revenue generated from customer service contracts and equipment installment plans. T-Mobile terminated Khudaverdyan’s contract in June 2017 based on his “suspicious computer behavior and association with unauthorized unlocking of cellphones,” but he continued his fraud, DOJ said. A federal jury found Khudaverdyan guilty of 14 felonies, including fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft. A co-defendant, Alen Gharehbagloo of La Canada Flintridge, California, a former co-owner of Top Tier Solutions, pleaded guilty July 5 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, accessing a protected computer with intent to defraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering; his sentencing hearing is slated for Feb. 13.

Plaintiff Alison White reached a stipulation with defendants Ring and Home Depot to refile her second amended complaint alleging false advertising over Ring’s Jobsite Security 5-Piece Starter Kit, said that stipulation Thursday (docket 2:22-cv-06909) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. The court declared White’s second amended complaint stricken a day earlier because it wasn’t timely filed (see 2212080031). She will refile the second amended complaint in the same redline/blueline format as the previous one, said the stipulation. White’s complaint newly asserted a three-step process supporting her claim that Ring and Home Depot misrepresented that Ring’s Jobsite Security 5-Piece Starter Kit, when properly configured, will contact the authorities automatically if a home's security system is breached.