Gotham City Reasearch has thoroughly investigated Grifols, but Grifols has also investigated Gotham and, specifically, his alma mater: Daniel Yu.
The lawsuit filed in New York against said investor this Friday, to which EL PAÍS has had access, describes him as a “criminal” and “swindler” and reviews his “sordid criminal history” and “his stints in jail.” .
Grifols has requested a jury trial in his lawsuit.
Destroying Yu's credibility is a key aspect of his legal strategy.
Gotham City Research and Daniel Yu like to live in the shadows.
Yu tries to maintain the mystery about his identity and his ways of acting, like a kind of
Batman of Wall Street,
as he has been dubbed.
However, after several attacks against different companies, there are more and more spotlights pointing at him.
”Gotham founder and director Yu has spent several stints in jail, including one after being accused of theft, identity theft and other financial crimes,” Grifols says in his lawsuit.
“After his release, Yu created Gotham as a vehicle and shield for his criminal enterprise,” the text continues, recalling that Yu and Gotham have previously been sued for alleged illegal and defamatory practices, but did not appear in court and pleaded in rebellion.
Grifols dedicates a section of its lawsuit to highlighting Yu's background.
“Despite comparing himself to the
Batman of Wall Street
, Yu has a sordid criminal record and is a convicted felon.
“He has served jail time for theft and has previously been accused of identity theft and other financial crimes,” the lawsuit highlights.
Grifols details that Yu was charged in Colorado in 2007 with theft, robbery, identity theft and criminal possession of a financial device, all felonies, according to state law.
The lawsuit cites a May 29, 2007, arrest report that, while Yu was working as a securities analyst for Dividend Capital, he stole several cell phones, iPods, computers and company checks.
Yu also stole passports and copied driver's licenses and other identification documents of several Dividend Capital employees, Grifols claims.
Colorado police conducted a forensic investigation of one of the computers stolen by Yu and discovered that Yu had used the computer to access websites related to identity theft, he adds.
The text presented by the Spanish company before the New York courts adds that a subsequent search of Yu's residence by the Colorado police revealed that he was also in possession of checks, photocopies of credit cards, photocopies of driver's licenses, student IDs, bank and credit card statements, bank account numbers, social security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, and other suspicious documents.
He pleaded guilty
Yu pleaded guilty to one felony count and one misdemeanor larceny charge on August 31, 2007. The court sentenced him to a four-year supervised deferred sentence for the felony and one year of probation for the minor offense.
Additionally, he was ordered to pay $134,152.51 in restitution to Dividend Capital.
On January 25, 2008, the State of Colorado requested the revocation of Yu's parole, alleging that Yu had failed to maintain a permanent residence in Colorado and had missed several parole appointments.
On January 28, 2008, an arrest warrant was issued for him.
Then, on October 23, 2008, the court revoked the deferred sentence, and Yu was sentenced again to 90 days in jail, still according to Grifols.
“Jail time did little to deter Yu from engaging in criminal activity,” says the lawsuit, which alleges that Yu continued in 2011 to violate the terms of his probation, leaving Colorado without permission and lying about his employment status. as explained in detail.
As a result, on October 19, 2011, Yu was detained once again and charged with attempting to influence a public official and forgery.
Both are felonies in Colorado.
On February 17, 2012, Yu reached a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to influence a public servant, which is a felony.
He was sentenced to three months in prison in the Denver County Jail.
In 2013, after being released from prison, Yu began publishing reports regarding alleged fraud and mismanagement of listed companies, using Gotham, which does not provide information on employees, headquarters, or direct contact.
According to Grifols, it is also unclear whether Gotham remains a legal entity, as the State of Delaware deregistered Gotham LLC in 2021 after it failed to name a registered agent.
Many unknowns
In reality, as with the fictional superhero, there are many unknowns surrounding the
Batman of Wall Street
.
The lawsuit says that, according to available information, he resides in Manhattan, New York, uses several aliases and changes addresses frequently.
He is the founder, editor and writer of Gotham and publishes the firm's reports.
Gotham has been successful in most of its bear attacks.
In Spain he exposed the fraud of Gowex, which went bankrupt without any value.
But he has also had some missteps in other countries.
In his offensive against Grifols he has put his finger on some of the company's problems, but he has also made very forced interpretations of his own and has made major errors.
He faces Grifols' lawsuit and a supervisory investigation into whether he spread misleading information to benefit himself.
Gotham City Research LLC was registered in Delaware as a limited liability company.
Its registered office is in the State of New York.
According to available information, Gotham is under the exclusive control of Daniel Yu, Gotham's sole partner, according to the lawsuit, which claims that Yu's personal funds and those of Gotham are mixed.
Yu, however, does not operate alone.
The claim is also directed against Cyrus De Weck, a natural person believed to reside in England, and General Industrial Partners (GIP), a limited liability company registered in both England and Wales.
According to Grifols, Yu and De Weck created GIP together and are coordinated to take bearish positions that will allow GIP to benefit from Gotham's reports.
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