UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

CASE NO. 20-CV-81205-RAR

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION,

Plaintiff,

v. 

COMPLETE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS 

GROUP, INC. d/b/a PAR FUNDING, et al.,

Defendants.

_______________________________/ 

ORDER GRANTING IN PART RECEIVER’S MOTION TO STRIKE 

DEFENDANT JOSEPH COLE BARLETA’S NOTICE OF COMPLIANCE

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court upon the Receiver’s Motion to Strike Defendant 

Joseph Cole Barleta’s Notice of Compliance (“Motion”), filed on August 15, 2023. [ECF No. 

1659]. Defendant Cole filed a Response in Opposition (“Response”) the same day. [ECF No. 

1662]. The Court having carefully reviewed the Motion, the Response, and the record, it is hereby 

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that the Receiver’s Motion is GRANTED IN PART as 

set forth herein. 

BACKGROUND

In the Motion, the Receiver indicates that Defendant Cole has not complied with this 

Court’s Order holding Cole in contempt of Court for failing to provide the Receiver with certain 

discovery [ECF No. 1586] (the “Contempt Order”) and asks the Court to strike Cole’s Notice of 

Compliance, through which Cole alleged his compliance with the Contempt Order, [ECF No. 

1599] at 1–3. Cole asserted in the Notice of Compliance that he has provided the Receiver with

the necessary discovery required under the Court’s April 29, 2022, Order Granting Receiver’s 

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Motion to Compel [ECF No. 1222] (the “Discovery Order”). The Receiver maintains that Cole’s 

production was deficient for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the lack of 

information about real estate that Cole acquired with potentially comingled investor funds; lack of 

bank statements dating back to 2016; lack of information on liabilities associated with Cole’s 

accounts; and other deficiencies. See Mot. at 3–5, 7. The Receiver asks the Court to impose a 

daily coercive fine until Cole complies in full with the Discovery Order and Contempt Order. Mot 

at 8–9. 

Cole responds that he has complied in full and that any requested documents he did not 

produce were due to his inability to obtain them, or because they do not exist. See Resp. at 2–5. 

Cole also argues that the Court’s Discovery Order requiring Cole to produce “copies of all 

documents within Cole’s possession, custody, or control containing information from 2016 

through the present about the following 10 categories of assets in which Cole may have had a 

personal business interest,” [ECF No. 1222] at 6, did not include liabilities, Resp. at 4–5. 

ANALYSIS

 The Receiver has made a plausible showing that Cole may have failed to comply in full 

with the Court’s Discovery Order and Contempt Order. The diligent efforts by the Receiver, 

documented in his Motion, to hold Cole to his discovery obligations demonstrates the extensive 

lengths the Receiver has undertaken to obtain the Court-ordered information. See generally, Mot.; 

Exs. 1–5 [ECF Nos. 1659–1, 1659–2, 1659–3, 1659–4, 1659–5]. Indeed, Cole’s production to 

date appears conspicuously threadbare. See id. Moreover, Cole’s parsimonious reading of the 

Court’s Discovery Order—interpreting “assets” to somehow exclude Cole from having to disclose 

liabilities—is clearly erroneous. The Discovery Order’s requirement of “documents. . . about the

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following 10 categories of assets,” clearly encompasses documentation of assets and liabilities. 

See Discovery Order at 6 (emphasis added). 

Cole asserts that he has fully complied and cannot produce documents that he does not 

have, nor documents that do not exist. If that is true, the Court cannot sanction Cole at this time. 

But district courts have broad discretion to fashion appropriate sanctions for violations of 

discovery orders. See Malauetea v. Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd., 987 F.2d 1536, 1542 (11th Cir. 1993). 

Accordingly, to ensure that Cole and his counsel are making truthful representations to the Court 

and the Receiver, and not evading Court orders, it is hereby 

 ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows: 

1. The Receiver’s Motion is GRANTED IN PART. 

2. Cole’s Notice of Compliance [ECF No. 1599] is STRICKEN.

3. To demonstrate full compliance, Cole and his counsel are both INSTRUCTED to 

file sworn affidavits with the Court on or before August 23, 2023, confirming that Cole has fully 

produced, or that no responsive documents exist for, each of the following categories of 

documents:

• All statements for the relevant period in the Court’s Order (2016 through 

present) for the following accounts: (i) FL Memory Lane Bank of 

America account (3299); (ii) FL Memory Lane Bank of America 

account (3286); (iii) Winsome Grounds PNC account; (iv) Fulton Bank 

account; and (v) Hezwal Abbwal WSFS Bank account. Cole is 

responsible for obtaining the relevant statements from the banks 

irrespective of whether they are currently in his possession. 

• All property related documents (including closing statements, deeds, 

applicable mortgage related documents, and HUD-1 statements) for the 

properties located at: (i) 609 S. Delhi Street, Philadelphia, PA; (ii) 1745 

Walnut Green Road, Wilmington, DE; (iii) 1751 Walnut Green Road, 

Wilmington DE; and (iv) 108 Louisiana Drive, Pensacola, FL. 

• Corporate formation documents for FL Memory Lane LLC and Hezwal 

Abbwal LLC. 

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• All documents and statements associated with any lines of credit 

secured by the above-referenced properties.

• All documents related to real estate taxes, property insurance, and 

maintenance fees associated with the above-referenced properties. 

• All documents reflecting the depletion of funds in Cole’s Fidelity 

accounts from the time of the Asset Freeze in August 2020 (totaling 

roughly $100,000) through May 2023 (under $100). 

4. Should Cole wish to make additional disclosures after reviewing this Order to 

ensure compliance, he shall have until August 22, 2023, to cure any discovery deficiencies. If 

Cole takes advantage of this option, he and his counsel shall still file the required sworn affidavits

described above by August 23, 2023. 

DONE AND ORDERED in Miami, Florida, this 17th day of August, 2023.

 ________________________________

 RODOLFO A. RUIZ II

 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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