Sann Rodrigues has abandoned his most creative legal defense yet: that he doesn't speak English.

During a contempt hearing on September 30th, the court ordered Rodrigues to explain why he shouldn't be held in contempt of the asset freeze order placed against him. His attorneys had claimed their client couldn't understand the order because he spoke no English. The SEC shot back with video footage showing Rodrigues speaking English fluently. Case closed on that one.

Now Rodrigues has filed his response memorandum, and the language barrier excuse is gone. Instead, he's pivoting to a Fifth Amendment claim: producing detailed accounting records would incriminate him in other ongoing investigations.

The memorandum tackles three questions the court laid out. First, why shouldn't Rodrigues face contempt charges? His attorneys argue he provided accounting to the best of his ability while protecting himself from additional criminal liability. On the question of why he violated the freeze order before recently handing over records, they're claiming he was never properly served with the April 23, 2014 order or the order extending the temporary restraining order. Without clear and convincing evidence he received notice, they argue he can't be held in contempt for violating it.

That defense has real holes. Rodrigues was representing himself when those orders came down. He was fully aware of the SEC's TelexFree complaint. When you're your own lawyer in a case, ignorance of court orders isn't a shield against contempt charges. Personal responsibility applies whether you have an attorney or not.

Besides, Rodrigues wasn't sitting idle. Right after the SEC moved against TelexFree, he launched iFreeX. His Facebook posts from that period bragged about "ignoring haters and getting on with business." He told his followers to do the same. iFreeX went live in late 2014. This wasn't a man confused about what was happening in court. This was a man moving forward with new ventures while under an asset freeze.

The second point Rodrigues addresses is whether he waived his Fifth Amendment privilege by signing the June 10, 2015 order to provide accountings. The third concerns what punishment might be appropriate if the court finds him in contempt anyway.

The core issue remains simple: Rodrigues was under a court order. He moved money and started new businesses in violation of that order. Now he's making legal arguments to avoid consequences. The English-speaking defense collapsed under the weight of video evidence. His current arguments about notice and self-incrimination will likely face equally skeptical scrutiny from the bench.

🤖 Quick Answer

What was Sann Rodrigues' initial defense against the contempt charge?
Rodrigues claimed he couldn't understand the asset freeze order due to lacking English language proficiency. However, the SEC presented video evidence demonstrating his fluent English capability, rendering this defense ineffective.

Why did Rodrigues abandon his language barrier argument?
The SEC's submission of video footage showing Rodrigues speaking English fluently undermined the credibility of his claim entirely, making the defense untenable before the court.

What defense strategy did Rodrigues adopt in his response memorandum?
Rodrigues shifted to invoking Fifth Amendment protections, asserting that producing detailed accounting records would incriminate him in other ongoing investigations currently under examination.

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