United States of America v. Molyneux

Filing 23

ORDER granting 22 Letter Motion to Adjourn Conference.The conference scheduled for February 13, will now take place on Monday, March 18, at 10 AM. The Courtroom Deputy will email the log-in details a week before the settlement conference date. T he parties are instructed to complete the Ex Parte Settlement Conference Summary Report and prepare pre-conference submissions in accordance with my Individual Rules of Practice. Pre-conference submissions must be received no later than Monday, March 11th by 5 PM. SO ORDERED. Settlement Conference set for 3/18/2024 at 10:00 AM before Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky. (Signed by Magistrate Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky on 2/5/2024) (jca)

U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Southern District of New York
86 Chambers Street
New York, New York 10007

February 2, 2024
VIA ECF
Hon. Robyn F. Tarnofsky
United States Magistrate Judge
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
United States Courthouse
500 Pearl Street
New York, New York 10007
Re:

United States v. Molyneux, No. 22 Civ. 10654 (JGLC) (RFT)

Dear Judge Tarnofsky:
This Office represents plaintiff the United States of America (the “Government”) in the
above-referenced lawsuit against pro se defendant Pilar Molyneux (“Defendant”), who resides in
France, to collect unpaid civil penalties for her willful failure to report her financial interest in
foreign bank accounts (“FBARs”) in calendar years 2014 and 2015, as required by 31 U.S.C.
§ 5314 and implementing regulations.
I write respectfully to request that the in-person settlement conference currently
scheduled for February 13, 2024, at 10:00 am (ECF No. 21), be adjourned to a date during the
week of March 18, 2024, at a time that accounts for the six-hour time difference between New
York and France, and be converted to a remote videoconference. I further request that the
parties’ obligation to submit ex parte settlement positions be extended from February 6, 2024,
id., to one week before the rescheduled conference. The Government is mindful that Section
V.M of the Court’s Individual Practices requires the parties to submit at least three proposed new
dates to the Court as part of an adjournment request, but is unable to do so as of today. Although
Defendant’s counsel in France1 previously informed me that her client consents to an
adjournment of the February 6, conference, I have not yet obtained Defendant’s proposed new
dates for the conference. The Government, however, is available on March 18, 19, 20, and 21,
2024. Given the uncertainty over Defendant’s availability and the Government’s ongoing efforts
to obtain settlement authority, as described below, the Government alternatively requests that the
settlement conference be adjourned sine die, with the Government to submit a status letter in
three weeks regarding the parties’ prospects for settlement without the Court’s assistance, and/or
proposed dates and times for the rescheduled conference. This is the Government’s second
request for an adjournment of the settlement conference.
The adjournment is requested because the Government does not yet have settlement
authority from officials within the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and the Tax Division of the
All communications between the Government and Defendant have occurred through Nora
Newton Muller, Esq., a French lawyer who is also admitted to practice in New York State but is
located in Paris. Ms. Muller is not admitted to practice before this Court and has informed the
undersigned that she will not be filing a notice of appearance on Defendant’s behalf in this case.
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Department of Justice (“DOJ”), and is therefore not in a position to respond to Defendant’s
opening proposal or to engage in further monetary settlement discussions. Although the
Government has completed its review of financial information provided by Defendant in support
of her proposed resolution, it is continuing to confer with the IRS and DOJ to determine what its
settlement position should be. Any final settlement position must be approved by officials with
settlement authority within the IRS and DOJ before the Government can respond to Defendant’s
proposal and appear at a settlement conference. We anticipate that this process will conclude
within the next several weeks.
We thank the Court for its consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
DAMIAN WILLIAMS
United States Attorney
By:

/s/ Tomoko Onozawa
TOMOKO ONOZAWA
Assistant United States Attorney
Telephone: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]

cc: Nora Newton Muller, Esq. (via electronic mail)

The conference scheduled for February 13, will now take place
on Monday, March 18, at 10 AM. The Courtroom Deputy will
email the log-in details a week before the settlement conference
date. The parties are instructed to complete the Ex Parte
Settlement Conference Summary Report and prepare preconference submissions in accordance with my Individual Rules
of Practice. Pre-conference submissions must be received no
later than Monday, March 11th by 5 PM.
Date: 2/5/2024
New York, NY