Overview
- Judge Stephen Houseman condemned the operation as an effort to undermine equality of arms and said it "offends justice."
- An undercover Black Cube operative secretly recorded a newly promoted opposing lawyer during a dinner where privileged matters were discussed.
- The ruling prevents use of the covert material to decide the dispute without a full hearing and returns the case to the trial track.
- Black Cube defended its work as lawful, saying the dispute centers on the ethics of obtaining information from an opponent's legal representative.
- Salinas Pliego’s lawsuit alleges a multimillion‑dollar fraud in a stock‑loan scheme involving Astor Asset Management and Vladimir Sklarov, including claims of fake identities and a purported Astor family link.