United States v. Consortium De Realisation S.A.

MEMORANDUM *

After a five-year federal grand jury investigation of several individuals and European companies, including the CDR Parties, for violation of federal banking laws related to the fraudulent acquisition of assets from a collapsed California insurance company now under rehabilitation by the California Commissioner of Insurance (“Commissioner”), the United States (“government”) sought and obtained an order from the district court disclosing materials related to the grand jury’s investigation (“Criminal Case”). The CDR Parties timely appealed. We AFFIRM the district court’s initial order in part, but REMAND for further consideration of both the initial and the subsequent requests for disclosure in light of changed circumstances in a related civil action.

I. History

There are actually two separate, but related, cases relevant to our inquiry. The first is the Criminal Case described above. The second is a collateral civil action which the Commissioner filed (“Civil Action”) in the Central District of California seeking damages from the same underlying transaction that was the subject of the Criminal Case.

During the pendency of the grand jury investigation, the United…