Magna update: settlement under review, deadline on

Magna update: settlement under review, deadline on jpyo extended to Nov 17

"October 26, 2023
By ECF
Hon. Loretta A. Preska
United States District Judge
Southern District of New York
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10007
Re: SEC v. Joshua Sason, et al., 19 Civ. 1459 (LAP)
Dear Judge Preska:
Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or “Commission”) and
Defendants Joshua Sason, Marc Manuel, and Magna Management, LLC, Magna Equities II, LLC,
and MG Partners, Ltd. (collectively, the “Magna Entities”) respectfully request that the Court
adjourn the deadline for the submission of a joint pretrial order (“JPTO”) for two reasons.1
First, counsel for the SEC and for Defendants Sason and the Magna Entities have continued
to participate in a mediation process with Magistrate Judge Aaron. On October 25, 2023, Judge
Aaron provided the parties with a settlement proposal and requested that the parties respond by
October 30, 2023. The parties are currently considering Judge Aaron’s proposal.
Second, as the Court is aware, SEC counsel reached a settlement in principle with Defendant
Manuel and agreed to recommend settlement terms to the five-member Commission that, if
authorized, would resolve the SEC’s claims against Manuel. Before SEC counsel can make that
recommendation, Manuel must sign a consent to a proposed final judgment, certain language in
which counsel for the SEC and Manuel have been negotiating. The Court previously set a date of
November 17, 2023, for the SEC and Manuel to provide the Court with a status update regarding
the Commission’s consideration of the settlement. (Dkt. 202.)
Accordingly, because the parties expect there to be more clarity soon regarding the claims, if
any, to be tried, the parties respectfully request that the Court adjourn the November 7, 2023, JPTO
deadline sine die, and set a new deadline after receiving the parties’ November 17, 2023, status report.
This is the parties’ third request for an adjournment of the JPTO deadline. The Court
previously granted the parties’ requests to extend the JPTO deadline from October 10, 2023, to
October 24, 2023 (Dkt. 200), and from October 24, 2023, to November 7, 2023. (Dkt. 205.)
Respectfully submitted,
/s/
Daniel Loss / David Zetlin-Jones / Eric Taffet
Counsel to the SEC
cc: All counsel of record by ECF
1
The JPTO deadline does not affect Defendants Kautilya Sharma, Perian Salviola, and Pallas
Holdings, LLC, for whom all issues of liability were resolved on summary judgment."