UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

CASE NO. 20-CV-23279-RNS

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff, 

vs. FILED EX PARTE

ALL RIGHT TO AND INTEREST IN PNC 

CORPORATE PLAZA HOLDINGS LLC HELD, 

CONTROLLED, OR ACQUIRED, DIRECTLY 

OR INDIRECTLY, BY OPTIMA CBD 

INVESTMENTS LLC AND/OR CBD 500 LLC, 

INCLUDING ANY INTEREST HELD IN OR 

SECURED BY THE REAL PROPERTY AND 

APPURTENANCES LOCATED AT 500 WEST 

JEFFERSON STREET, LOUISVILLE, KY 

40202; 

ANY RIGHT TO COLLECT AND RECEIVE ANY 

PROFIT, RENT, INCOME, AND PROCEEDS 

THEREFROM; AND ANY INTEREST DERIVED 

FROM THE PROCEEDS INVESTED IN PNC

CORPORATE PLAZA HOLDINGS LLC BY 

OPTIMA

CBD INVESTMENTS LLC AND/OR CBD 500 

LLC,

Defendant.

/

EX PARTE RESTRAINING ORDER 

THIS MATTER is before the Court on the Application of the United States 

for a restraining order pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 983(j)(1)(A) to preserve the 

availability of all right to and interest in PNC Corporate Plaza Holdings LLC (“PNC 

Holdings”) held, controlled, or acquired, directly or indirectly, by Optima CBD 

Investments LLC (“Optima CBD”) and CBD 500 LLC (“CBD 500”), which includes 

any interest held in or secured by PNC Holdings’ assets, such as real property 

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and appurtenances located at 500 West Jefferson Street, Louisville, KY 40202 

(“PNC Plaza”), any profit, rent, income, and proceeds therefrom, and any interest 

derived from the proceeds invested in PNC Holdings by Optima CBD and CBD 

500 (the “Defendant Asset”). The Court has considered the Application and the 

allegations of the Complaint, is otherwise advised of the premises, and finds as 

follows:

1. The Court has authority under 18 U.S.C. § 983(j)(1)(A), upon 

application of the United States, to “enter a restraining order” in order to 

“maintain [and] preserve the availability of property subject to civil forfeiture 

upon the filing of a civil forfeiture complaint alleging that the property with 

respect to which the order is sought is subject to civil forfeiture.”

2. The Court further has the authority, under Rule G of the 

Supplemental Rules for Admiralty or Maritime Claims and Asset Forfeiture 

Actions (“Rule G”), to enter “any order necessary to preserve [ ] property, to 

prevent its removal or encumbrance, or to prevent its use in a criminal offense.” 

Supp. R. (G)(7)(a). 

3. The facts alleged in the Complaint, and summarized in the 

Government’s Application, establish probable cause that the Defendant Asset is 

subject to forfeiture to the United States.

4. The Order sought by the United States is necessary to maintain and 

preserve the Defendant Asset.

5. The Application is properly granted ex parte.

Accordingly, based on the foregoing, and for good cause shown, the 

Application is GRANTED, and it is hereby ORDERED that:

a. Optima CBD, CBD 500, Mordechai Korf, Uriel Laber, and their 

attorneys, agents, and anyone acting on their behalf, and all persons or entities 

acting in concert or participation with any of the above, and all persons and 

entities having actual knowledge of the order shall not directly or indirectly, 

transfer, sell, assign, pledge, distribute, encumber, attach or dispose of in any 

manner; cause to be transferred, sold, assigned, pledged, distributed, 

encumbered, attached or disposed of in any manner; or take, or cause to be 

taken, any action that would have the effect of depreciating, damaging, or in any 

way diminishing the value of the Defendant Asset, including any action that 

would increase costs or reduce revenues unless approved in writing by the 

Government.

b. The owners of the Defendant Asset, including Optima CBD, CBD 

500, Mordechai Korf, and Uriel Laber, are required to maintain the present 

contracts and agreements related to the Defendant Asset, and adhere to all 

provisions of any applicable contract or agreement until further order of this 

Court, and shall allow the United States to join in the Defendant Asset’s 

Case 1:20-cv-23279-MGC Document 5 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/14/2020 Page 2 of 4
management, including by directing key business decisions about day to day 

operations and to monitor compliance with the Order by all lawful means 

available.

c. Optima CBD, CBD 500, Mordechai Korf, and Uriel Laber shall not 

make any effort to interfere with the operation or preservation of the Defendant 

Asset.

d. Except as otherwise provided in the Order, all persons, financial 

institutions, and other entities who have or assert any access to, interest in, 

control over, or legal claim to the Defendant Asset, and all such persons’ or 

entities’ agents, employees, attorneys, family members, and those persons in 

active concert or participation with them, including but not limited to Optima 

CBD, CBD 500, Mordechai Korf, and Uriel Laber, shall be restrained, prohibited, 

and enjoined from attempting or taking any action that could affect the 

availability, marketability, or value of the Defendant Asset, including but not 

limited to, selling, conveying, transferring, bailing, assigning, pledging, 

collateralizing, encumbering, wasting, secreting, damaging, diminishing the 

value of, disposing of, or removing from the jurisdiction of this Court, all or any 

part of their interest, direct or indirect, in the Defendant Asset, unless approved 

in writing by the Government.

e. 500 West Jefferson Street LLC is authorized to consummate the sale 

as agreed to in the Purchase and Sale Agreement dated July 17, 2020 and 

amended on July 23, 2020. Ninety-five percent of the net proceeds from such 

sale, as well as any other funds that would otherwise be transferred to Optima 

CBD, CBD 500, Korf, Laber, or their agents, representatives, or assigns, shall be 

transferred to the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending the 

outcome of this action. Upon consummation of the sale and the transfer of 95% 

of the net proceeds from such sale as discussed above, all restraints against PNC 

Plaza, including any lis pendens, shall be released, and those net sale proceeds 

shall be treated as a substitute res for the property.

f. Additionally, any other funds related to PNC Holdings, 500 West 

Jefferson, or PNC Plaza, which would otherwise be owed or transferred to Optima 

CBD, CBD 500, Korf, Laber, or their agents, representatives, or assigns shall be 

transferred to the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending the 

outcome of this action. 

g. All other sales or transfers of the assets or income or rights thereto 

of the Defendant Asset, except with the written permission of the Government, 

are prohibited.

h. In the event the sale described in the Sale Agreement is not 

consummated, the United States may file a further application for a restraining 

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order or an order authorizing the interlocutory sale of the Defendant Asset to 

prevent loss and waste and to preserve the property as an operating business.

Done and ordered at Miami, Florida, on August 13, 2020.

________________________________

Robert N. Scola, Jr.

United States District Judge

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