It’s been six months since the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, launched legal action against the fraudulent crypto scheme named Control-Finance Limited. With the service procedure lagging behind due to not finding the company’s Director, Benjamin Reynolds, the regulator is pushing for more time to effectively service the defendant. The problem comes from the fact that no one knows where Reynolds is currently located.

Filing For More Time For Proper Legal Process

On the 3rd of January, 2020, the Commission officially filed a motion to the New York Southern District Court. Within this filing, the CFTC requested entry for an Order. This order will authorize the service of process of Reynolds by way of publication in the Daily Telegraph. Furthermore, it extends the time limit for adequate servicing of both Control-Finance and Reynolds himself with sixty days.

Many Failed Attempts Of Proper Servicing

Through a memorandum that followed with the motion, the regulator describes its diligent attempts to serve Reynolds properly. Shortly after the original Complaint was filed, around the 17th of July, 2019, the Commission tried to deliver it to a physical address. The CFTC made use of a litigation support firm, Legal Language Services, to arrange for proper service of both Reynolds and Control-finance. LLS, in turn, managed to utilize a solicitor that was authorized by the Central Authorities of England and Wales. This solicitor was sent to serve both Reynolds and Control-Finance personally. They sought both parties out at their respective addresses that Reynalds listed when he filed for incorporation with the UK registrar.

On the 31st of July, 2019, the process server that operated under this solicitor’s supervision made an attempt to personally serve Reynolds at the address he listed as a “service address.” Upon arriving at the location, the process server made the discovery that the address didn’t exist. The best-corresponded address, however, was linked to an office building long-since abandoned and even boarded up.

Gone Without A Trace

Afterward, the CFTC tried to send the Summonses, the Complaint, and the Electronic Case Filing Rules from the Southern District of New York, as well as the Court’s Individual Practices by way of an email. This email was sent to the only known addresses associated with both Reynolds and Control-Finance: Support@control-finance.com and admin@controlfinance.com. However, when the email was attempted to be delivered, the CFTC received a bounce-back message that indicated that the email couldn’t be delivered. The reason for it was stated as an “unknown address error.”