Instead of fulfilling this important fiduciary duty, he gave RVG bad legal advice and actively participated in promoting a Ponzi and pyramid scheme that caused RVG enormous harm. As a result, RVG’s Receiver has brought this action against him. In response, Kaplan argues that despite his wrongful conduct he is effectively immune from liability because the court appointed Receiver for the company cannot bring claims against him. However, Kaplan’s claimed defense of “in pari delicto” does not bar a federal equity Receiver from asserting claims on behalf of the company he is appointed to oversee. Indeed, there is a public policy exception to “in pari delicto” defenses in North Carolina law that does not allow those – like Kaplan – who failed their fiduciary duty and assisted company insiders in harming the company to evade justice.