Most lawsuits settle.
There are some facts which are yet to be determined.
Thus far, one side has filed their complaint. We have not heard what the other side has to say, but I doubt they will be arguing their case on domain blogs.
I have personally seen multiple situations in which a hacker compromised someone’s email address and used it to impersonate the account owner. This is done sometimes without changing anything, but by using automated alerts to monitor the account in order to conduct conversations and delete them from the account, so that the owner is not even aware.
In one case, a domain negotiation lasted for a couple of months, the domain was sold, transferred, and then the owner noticed the domain missing. I represented the purchaser and when the other side said they were hacked, I did not believe it. Eventually, the evidence showed I was wrong, and the account had really been hacked.
It is one thing to have an opinion, a hunch, or a guess. But it is important to be able to recognize when reality fails to live up to expectations. There is nothing as annoying to me as when the facts don’t cooperate with my argument.
My guess is that Dikian was being impersonated by someone with an interesting level of sophistication. My guess is that both sides of the transaction were being run by the same person(s) who were running a con with Gargiulo as the victim.
And, to be clear, Gargiulo is the victim here, regardless of one’s opinion of his “commission structure”. Mike was robbed by people using his energetic pursuit of deals against him. He ignored some red flags and was robbed.
That’s how cons work. Whoever did this seems to have targeted Mike and laid a trap that seems to have been designed for him. My hunch is that the thief knows him.
Compounding the problem is that Mike is understandably furious. People who have been conned often are too embarrassed to do anything. So, kudos to him for coming forward, but his public attacks against Dikian may be misplaced.
It is also worth observing that Gargiulo had no idea where Dikian was or where he could be found. Hence the court authorized service of process by email. If Dikian had committed the crimes of which he is accused, then Dikian would be unlikely to come forward and defend the case. This matter has been reported to at least one police department who also does not know where to find Dikian. But now, by his own choice, he is easy to find. Now, there are a number of things possible, but if I were advising Dikian and he was actually guilty of what Gargiulo has alleged, I would certainly tell him that his risk of arrest and prosecution would increase if he came forward to appear in this civil case.
Could that hunch be rip-roaringly wrong? Absolutely. And it will be interesting to see what develops and how the parties sort this out.
Incidentally, one thing that would be good to understand is that intelligent people are not always right, and people who think they are always right are usually not intelligent.
Both sides have great lawyers. I have had the privilege to work with (and against) Brett Lewis and Mike Rodenbaugh, and I consider both of them to be good friends and able colleagues. So, the most likely outcome in my opinion is that there will come a point at which there are no facts in dispute based on discovery materials obtained from third parties. At that point, Mr. Rodenbaugh and Mr. Lewis, both being exceptionally intelligent men, will advice their clients on the best way to conclude the matter.
