Ritchie Capital Management LLC v. BMO Harris Bank, N.A., No. 16-1968 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision to abstain from a suit arising out of the collapse of Thomas Petters' massive Ponzi scheme, because the case before the district court was duplicative of the case before the other federal court. While the district court appropriately invoked its discretion to abstain, the district court should have stayed the action rather than dismiss it. Accordingly, the court vacated the judgment dismissing the action and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Colloton, Author, with Loken and Kelly, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Fraud. In action alleging fraud in connection with the Thomas Petters Ponzi scheme, the district court did not err in abstaining based on its conclusion that the action was duplicative of those ongoing in pending bankruptcy proceedings; while the district court was within its discretion to abstain, it should have stayed the claims rather than dismiss them as the two cases were not identical actions involving identical parties.
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