Kissi v. United States , 493 F. App'x 57 ( 2012 )


Menu:
  •        NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.
    United States Court of Appeals
    for the Federal Circuit
    __________________________
    DAVID KISSI,
    Plaintiff-Appellant,
    v.
    UNITED STATES,
    Defendant-Appellee.
    __________________________
    2012-5025
    __________________________
    Appeal from the United States Court of Federal
    Claims in case no. 11-CV-347, Judge Thomas C. Wheeler.
    __________________________
    Decided: July 23, 2012
    __________________________
    DAVID KISSI, of Washington, DC, pro se.
    ALEX P. HONTOS, Trial Attorney, Civil Division, Com-
    mercial Litigation Branch, United States Department of
    Justice, of Washington, DC, for defendant-appellee. With
    him on the brief were STUART F. DELERY, Acting Assistant
    Attorney General, JEANNE E. DAVIDSON, Director, and
    DONALD E. KINNER, Assistant Director.
    __________________________
    KISSI   v. US                                              2
    Before NEWMAN, PROST, and REYNA, Circuit Judges.
    PER CURIAM.
    Pro se appellant, David Kissi, appeals a decision of the
    United States Court of Federal Claims, dismissing his
    complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and
    failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted.
    The Court of Federal Claims also enjoined Mr. Kissi from
    filing further related actions in the Court of Federal
    Claims absent prior court approval. For the reasons
    outlined below, we affirm.
    I.
    Mr. Kissi and his wife were shareholders and agents
    of the now-dissolved DK&R Company, Inc. (“DK&R”).
    Between March 29, 1993, and May 22, 1996, The Money
    Store and Key Bank, N.A., issued loans to DK&R, and the
    United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”)
    partially guaranteed the loans. After DK&R defaulted on
    the loans, the SBA satisfied its guarantee obligations on
    the loans and transferred its interest in the loans to
    Pramco II, LLC (“Pramco”), which attempted to collect on
    the loans from the Kissis. As a result, Mr. Kissi sued the
    SBA and the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”)
    for “Loan Fraud as a Co-Guarantor, For Abusing Its Role
    as a Custodian of Ammendale Trust U.S. Court Escrow
    Count [sic] And For [] Taking Plaintiffs’ Assets Without
    Compensation” A13. He sought $100 million in damages.
    The government moved to dismiss the complaint for lack
    of subject and matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a
    claim. It also asked the court to enjoin Mr. Kissi from
    filing any related future complaints in the Court of Fed-
    eral Claims absent court permission. The Court of Fed-
    eral Claims dismissed the complaint and granted the
    injunction.
    3                                                KISSI   v. US
    This appeal followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant
    to 
    28 U.S.C. § 1295
    (a)(3).
    II.
    We review de novo whether the Court of Federal
    Claims properly dismissed a complaint for lack of subject
    matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim for
    which relief may be granted. See Todd Constr., L.P. v.
    United States, 
    656 F.3d 1306
    , 1310 (Fed. Cir. 2011);
    Moyer v. United States, 
    190 F.3d 1314
    , 1317-18 (Fed. Cir.
    1999). When reviewing a motion to dismiss pursuant to
    RCFC 12(b)(1), the Court of Federal Claims assumes that
    all factual allegations are true and construes "all reason-
    able inferences" in the plaintiff’s favor. Henke v. United
    States, 
    60 F.3d 795
    , 797 (Fed. Cir. 1995). We review the
    factual findings of the Court of Federal Claims for clear
    error. See Moyer, 
    190 F.3d at 1318
    . As the plaintiff-
    appellant, Mr. Kissi must establish subject matter juris-
    diction by preponderant evidence. See Reynolds v. Army
    & Air Force Exch. Serv., 
    846 F.2d 746
    , 748 (Fed. Cir.
    1998) (internal citations omitted). If the Court of Federal
    Claims determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdic-
    tion, it must dismiss the claim. RCFC 12(h)(3).
    Here, the Court of Federal Claims properly dismissed
    Mr. Kissi’s complaint because it was time-barred. The
    alleged contractual breach – the transfers of the SBA’s
    interest in DK&R loans to Pramco – occurred on Decem-
    ber 5, 2000, and August 7, 2001. Mr. Kissi did not file his
    complaint in the Court of Federal Claims until June 1,
    2011, almost ten years after the purported breach would
    have accrued. See Alder Terrace, Inc. v. United States,
    
    161 F.3d 1372
    , 1377 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (stating that in a
    breach-of-contract case, the cause of action generally
    accrues at the time of the breach). The Court of Federal
    Claims lacks jurisdiction over a claim that is not filed
    KISSI   v. US                                            4
    within six years after it first accrues. 
    28 U.S.C. § 2501
    .
    Therefore, Mr. Kissi’s claim is time-barred.
    As to Mr. Kissi’s fraud claim, the Court of Federal
    Claims did not err in dismissing it. Mr. Kissi claimed
    that due to his discovery of new evidence or fraud, Federal
    Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b) entitled him to relief from
    the judgment of a Maryland district court in favor of
    Pramco. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are not
    controlling on the Court of Federal Claims, but that
    court’s analogous rule – RCFC 60(b) – allows for relief
    from a final judgment in the case of, inter alia, newly
    discovered evidence of fraud. However, a party seeking to
    invoke RCFC 60(b) must do so no more than a year after
    entry of the judgment or order or date of the proceeding.
    RCFC 60(c)(1). Because Mr. Kissi seeks relief from a
    judgment entered on May 29, 2003, the Court of Federal
    Claims properly concluded that his fraud claim was
    untimely. Even if it were not, the Court of Federal
    Claims cannot review a judgment of a Maryland district
    court and lacks jurisdiction over claims directed at enti-
    ties other than the United States, such as Pramco.
    Finally, given Mr. Kissi’s long and complicated litiga-
    tion history related to the claims at issue in this appeal,
    we see no error in the court’s decision to enjoin Mr. Kissi
    from filing a related complaint in the court absent prior
    court approval in an effort to preserve judicial resources
    and deter the filing of frivolous lawsuits. See RCFC 11;
    Rutledge v. United States, 
    72 Fed. Cl. 396
    , 403 (2006);
    Hornback v. United States, 
    62 Fed. Cl. 1
    , 6 (2004), aff’d,
    
    405 F.3d 999
     (Fed. Cir. 2005). 1
    1    According to the Court of Federal Claims, between
    1999 and 2003, Mr. Kissi filed at least 20 actions related
    to this litigation. From 1999 to 2011, he filed lawsuits in
    the U.S. District Court of Maryland, Circuit Court of
    5                                                 KISSI   v. US
    We have considered Mr. Kissi’s other arguments made
    on appeal and find that they provide no basis for relief.
    For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Court of
    Federal Claims is hereby
    AFFIRMED
    No costs.
    Maryland for Anne Arundel County, Circuit Court of
    Maryland for Baltimore County, Circuit Court of Mary-
    land for Howard County, U.S. District Court for the
    District of Columbia, U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Balti-
    more, District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City, U.S.
    District Court for the District of New Jersey, U.S. District
    Court for the Northern District of Ohio, U.S. District
    Court for the District of Delaware, U.S. Court of Appeals
    for the Third Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth
    Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
    Columbia Circuit.