The investment programs were scams, the instruments themselves bogus. Instead of using the money as promised, the promoters of the scheme misappropriated the investors' funds for their own benefit, transferring portions of the money to at least one bank account under the control of the El Hage defendants. After their failure to respond, notwithstanding their foreign location, the Court asserted personal jurisdiction over these defendants based on their conduct in the U.S. and the impact of that conduct on U.S. citizens.
Litigation continues as to the remaining defendants and relief defendants.