The firm obtained a $1.9 million award for nonprofit organization Save Our Allies in a fraud suit against groups that claimed they would help relocate Afghan refugees waiting in Pakistan for resettlement. The suit was originally filed by HHR in September 2022.
On Aug. 23, U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez found Ravenswood, an advisory firm, at fault for misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars from Save Our Allies over its failure to relocate 197 people awaiting help in Pakistan as part of the nonprofit's efforts to rescue Afghans from Taliban rule.
In the ruling, Martinez held that Ravenswood is liable for all claims asserted in the complaint, which include fraud, civil conspiracy, conversion, civil theft, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
"There was a lot of heroism and self-sacrifice during the debacle of the evacuation from Afghanistan, including [from] a lot of Americans," Kevin Carroll said to Law.com. "But in any crisis situation, there is always going to be a handful of bottom feeders who seek to make money off of human tragedy. It's important to hold these low-morals people who would do such a thing to account."
Martinez entered a default judgement for over $1 million in compensatory damages and close to $900,000 in treble damages. He denied without prejudice a request for prejudgment interest, post-judgment interest, attorney fees and cost.
"This ruling shows Save Our Allies is sincerely committed to its charitable mission and is responsible to its donors," Carroll told Law.com. "It is not going to let donated charitable funds be misappropriated by bad actors without taking every legal step to recover those funds and get them to the people for whom they were intended."
The lawsuit was covered in The Washington Post, Politico, Law360, Stars and Stripes and Military.com.
Save Our Allies was created in 2021 by three special operations veterans and the wife of one of America's most severely wounded veterans. They aim to provide lifesaving battlefield medicine and help vulnerable populations flee terror and withdraw from hostile environments. The organization recently established a multi-national 24/7 command center to screen and select participants, working with partner NGOs, churches and government personnel.
Kevin Carroll and Sean Reilly represented Save Our Allies.
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