Genius Group Files RICO Lawsuit Against LZGI's Peter Ritz, Michael Moe Seeking $450 Mln In Damages

(RTTNews) - Genius Group Limited (GNS), an AI-powered, Bitcoin-first education group, announced Friday that it has filed a lawsuit against Peter Ritz and Michael Moe as the controlling officers and directors of LZGI International, Inc., seeking over $450 million in damages.

The lawsuit has been filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act or RICO, in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida on March 31.

Genius Group said it is filing the complaint on Friday as part of a Current Report on Form 6-K with the SEC, and as part of a police report to the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force for organized criminal activity against a Singapore public company.

The company has also notified various authorities on the contents of the RICO complaint with a request for them to pursue their own actions. These agencies include The Securities and Exchange Commission; The Criminal Division, Fraud Section, Department of Justice or DOJ; and the Corporate Fraud Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI.

Genius Group noted that the RICO Complaint includes a scheme by the Defendants to defraud LZGI and Genius Group shareholders through a pattern of mail fraud, wire fraud, and extortion, to acquire control of different microcap entities.

It also includes, among others, a scheme by the Defendants to use LZGI as a vehicle to coerce and extort the insiders of microcap companies for the purpose of taking over the business and looting the assets of the entities, with Genius Group being their latest victim.

Genius Group has demanded a trial by jury and seeks a verdict and judgement awarding the Company no less than $150 million in monetary damages, which based on treble damages pursuant to 772.104(1), Fla. Stat. (2024) is minimum of $450 million in damages.

The RICO complaint, against fraud and market manipulation, is separate from the lawsuit led by Christian Attar related to alleged naked short selling and spoofing of Genius Groups shares, with alleged damages previously calculated at between $251 million and $263 million, the company noted.