United States of America v. Two Hundred Seventy-Two Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($272,000)

Filing 31

ORDER: if counsel's motion to withdraw is granted, Mr. Zhou will be expected to proceed in this action with or without new counsel. If Mr. Zhou fails to appear at the April 25th court conference, and/or if he persists in his failure to particip ate in this action, this Court will recommend to the Honorable Ann M. Donnelly, the District Judge assigned to his case, that his claim be dismissed with prejudice for failure to prosecute. See attached for further discussion. Ordered by Chief Mag. Judge Roanne L. Mann on 4/19/2018. (Proujansky, Josh)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
-against-

ORDER
16-CV-6564 (AMD)

TWO HUNDERED SEVENTY TWO THOUSAND
DOLLARS AND NO CENTS ($272,000), MORE OR
LESS, IN UNITED STATES CURRENCY SEIZED
FROM RESIDENCE OF YUAHUA ZHOU AT
14 WIMBELDON COURT, JERICHO, NEW YORK,
ON OR ABOUT JUNE 6, 2016, AND ALL PROCEEDS
TRACEABLE THERETO,
Defendants in rem.
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ROANNE L. MANN, CHIEF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE:
The Court is in receipt of a letter from counsel for claimant Wayne Zhou in connection
with their pending motion to withdraw (see Amended Motion to Withdraw (Apr. 13, 2018),
Electronic Case Filing Docket Entry (“DE”) #29), which states that counsel have been unable to
communicate with their client (who currently resides in China) for more than one year, despite
several attempts to contact him by email. See Letter in Response to the Court’s Electronic
Orders (Apr. 18, 2018), DE #30. Mr. Zhou is advised that a client’s failure to communicate
with counsel constitutes “satisfactory reasons” for counsel’s withdrawal.
This matter was previously scheduled for a conference before the Court on April 25,
2018. See Scheduling Order (Apr. 11, 2018), DE #27. When claimant’s counsel moved to
withdraw, the Court directed Mr. Zhou to appear at that proceeding. See Electronic Order (Apr.
13, 2018). If counsel’s motion to withdraw is granted, Mr. Zhou will be expected to proceed in
this action with or without new counsel. If Mr. Zhou fails to appear at the April 25th court

conference, and/or if he persists in his failure to participate in this action, this Court will
recommend to the Honorable Ann M. Donnelly, the District Judge assigned to his case, that his
claim be dismissed with prejudice for failure to prosecute.
SO ORDERED.
Dated:

Brooklyn, New York
April 19, 2018
/s/

Roanne L. Mann

ROANNE L. MANN
CHIEF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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