Aghaeepour v. Northern Leasing Systems, Inc.

── Aghaeepour v. Northern Leasing Systems, Inc. ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Date: April 29, 2026 Category: General 25-548 Aghaeepour v. Northern Leasing Systems, Inc. UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT SUMMARY ORDER RULINGS BY SUMMARY ORDER DO NOT HAVE PRECEDENTIAL EFFECT. CITATION TO A SUMMARY ORDER FILED ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2007, IS PERMITTED AND IS GOVERNED BY FEDERAL RULE OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE 32.1 AND THIS COURT’S LOCAL RULE 32.1.1. WHEN CITING A SUMMARY ORDER IN A DOCUMENT FILED WITH THIS COURT, A PARTY MUST CITE EITHER THE FEDERAL APPENDIX OR AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE (WITH THE NOTATION “SUMMARY ORDER”). A PARTY CITING TO A SUMMARY ORDER MUST SERVE A COPY OF IT ON ANY PARTY NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL. At a stated term of The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, held at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse, 40 Foley Square, in the City of New York, on the 29th day of April, two thousand twenty- six. PRESENT: SUSAN L. CARNEY, BETH ROBINSON, MYRNA PÉREZ, Circuit Judges. _________________________________________ ELAINE AGHAEEPOUR, MICHELE NORRIS, Plaintiffs-Counter-Defendants-Appellants, ELAINE BARRETT, ASHLEY GLASGOW, BRUCE DRAGO, HONG ZHANG, DEBORAH WILSON, ANNE BARR, Plaintiffs, JULIE HIGGINS, JESUS RIVERA, RAY SCHILBER, SHANE MOORE, Plaintiffs-Counter-Defendants,  v. No. 25-548 NORTHERN LEASING SYSTEMS, INC., MBF LEASING, LLC, LOUIS CUCINOTTA, JAY COHEN, JENNIFER CENTENO, AKA JENNIFER NUGENT, SARA KRIEGER, JOSEPH I. SUSSMAN, JOSEPH I. SUSSMAN, P.C., Defendants-Counter-Claimants-Appellees, LEASE FINANCE GROUP, LLC, Defendant-Counter-Claimant. * _________________________________________ FOR PLAINTIFFS-COUNTER- KEITH ALTMAN, The Law Office of DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS: Keith Altman, Farmington Hills, MI. FOR DEFENDANTS-COUNTER- HILLEL IRA PARNESS, Parness Law CLAIMANTS-APPELLEES: Firm, PLLC, New York, NY. Appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Nelson S. Román, Judge). UPON DUE CONSIDERATION WHEREOF, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, ADJUDGED, AND DECREED that the judgment, entered on February 5, 2025, is AFFIRMED. * The Clerk’s office is respectfully directed to amend the caption as reflected above. 2  Plaintiffs-Counter-Defendants-Appellants Elaine Aghaeepour and Michele Norris (“Plaintiffs”) appeal the judgment of the district court, which, following a jury verdict for Plaintiffs, entered judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. P. 50 in favor of Defendants-Counter-Claimants-Appellees Northern Leasing Systems, Inc., MBF Leasing, LLC, Louis Cucinotta, Jay Cohen, Jennifer Centeno, Sara Krieger, Joseph I. Sussman, and Joseph I. Sussman, P.C., (collectively, “Defendants”) on all of Plaintiffs’ claims. Plaintiffs alleged civil violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1962(c) and (d); the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(f); the New York FCRA, N.Y. Gen. Bus. L. §§ 380-b and 380-o; and New York consumer protection law, N.Y. Gen. Bus. L. § 349. Plaintiffs claimed that Defendants participated in a fraudulent scheme to improperly collect from Plaintiffs lease payments for credit card processing equipment that Plaintiffs did not legitimately owe because their purported signatures on the leases were forged. As relevant here, after a jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiffs on each claim, the district court granted Defendants’ Rule 50 motion for judgment as a matter of law on the basis that Plainti