Fifth Circuit Denies Immediate Appeal for Crypto Executive in IRS Summons Case
On Tuesday, May 27, 2025, Law360 reported that a cryptocurrency executive must wait for the U.S. government to decide on potential legal action before he can appeal a ruling related to IRS summonses. Rowland Marcus Andrade, head of ABTC Corp., sought to quash two summonses issued by the IRS to Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase Bank regarding his financial records.
In a per curiam decision, a three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit stated that Andrade could only appeal after a final order is made in any legal proceeding concerning his financial records. Alternatively, he could appeal within 30 days if he is notified that no legal action is forthcoming. The panel noted, “Neither has occurred here.”
Andrade, who was convicted of bitcoin-related fraud in March, had challenged a Texas federal court’s order that denied his request to block the IRS summonses. He contended that the IRS violated the Right to Financial Privacy Act’s requirement for proper notification.
The appeals court referenced Title 12 of the U.S. Code, Section 3410, which governs third-party subpoenas to banks. According to the panel, while a bank customer can contest a subpoena for their records, a denial of such a challenge is not considered a final order eligible for appeal.
The IRS maintained that the appeals court did not have jurisdiction over Andrade’s case. In a February brief, the government stated, “No legal proceeding has been initiated against Andrade arising out of or based upon the financial records, nor has he been notified that no legal proceeding has been contemplated against him.”
Andrade’s attorney, Charles Morgan, argued that the Section 3410 rules are unconstitutional. He asserted that these provisions infringe on the right to access the courts, which he claims is embedded in the “open courts” provisions of over 38 state constitutions. Morgan criticized the appeals court for overlooking significant arguments in his brief, including what he described as a “momentous” constitutional issue.
In February 2024, Andrade and ABTC filed a lawsuit in a Texas district court to quash four summonses issued the previous year as part of a federal investigation under the Bank Secrecy Act. Andrade argued that the IRS had violated financial privacy laws by disclosing customer records without a proper subpoena.
The district court dismissed Andrade’s request to quash the summonses, declaring it moot since the IRS had already received the records. The court also ruled that the IRS had adequately notified Andrade and ABTC regarding the third-party summonses, rejecting their claims of violations under the RFPA.
In August, Andrade and his company appealed to the Fifth Circuit and sought to prevent the IRS from accessing their bank records until the appellate court made a ruling. Andrade claimed that the IRS should have sent notification of the summonses to his personal and attorney’s addresses instead of his office address. He noted that the notices were returned as undeliverable on October 12, 2023, and neither he nor his attorney received them until they were faxed on February 2, 2024.
In a separate legal matter, Andrade was convicted by a California federal jury in March of fraudulently marketing and selling a cryptocurrency called AML Bitcoin. The five-week trial revealed that he had allegedly stolen more than $10 million from numerous investors in a scheme involving disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Source: Law360
