Related CEO's lawsuit claiming harassment by (aggrieved) EB-5 investors dropped--against all but one. Was there a settlement?

Less than three weeks ago a lawsuit surfaced, from the CEO of Related Companies, Jeff Blau against seven Chinese investors under the EB-5 investor visa program who he claimed were harassing him at home.

My headline was Some EB-5 investors furious about failure to get their $500K repaid now sued for harassing Related CEO. How ethical is Related's business practice?

As I wrote, the lawsuit describes some indefensible behavior, disavowed by other investors, and, if corroborated, worthy of some sanction.

Still, it--and an article based on it in the real-estate publication The Real Deal--downplayed the triggering issue, in which Related gained $500,000 each from more than 2,000 Chinese investors under  EB-5 starting in 2014 and apparently has paid little of the money back.

That kind of business practice, though apparently legal thanks to a contractual structure that advantages a sophisticated party (Related) against some far less sophisticated people (the Chinese investors), is hard to defend ethically.

Indeed, while the lawsuit got straightfaced coverage from some real estate publications, The Promote, written by former Real Deal Editorial Director Hiten Samtani, cited The Black Hole of EB-5, acknowledging that, while the full picture was unclear, "the program is littered with such stories and cries for transparency."

Lawsuit discontinued

Well, less than a week after the lawsuit was filed, Blau, in a one-paragraph notice dated Sept. 29, announced a discontinuance against six of the seven defendants.

That presumably indicates an out-of-court settlement of some kind.

I queried Blau's lawyer but didn't hear back.

Who's left

It's unclear whether/why the case continues against the seventh defendant, Jingxu He. 

Note that He told Bisnow, after the lawsuit was filed, that she hadn't participated in the protests cited and had asked to be removed from the suit, since she would defend her rights through legal means. 

However, she made a critical, if ultimately cautious, statement to the publication about the process:

But, she wrote, the firm that collected the investments from immigrants on behalf of Related promised “risk-free” returns and guaranteed that their capital would be returned within five years. That changed when the pandemic hit, but more than a decade after investing in the project, He is still waiting to be repaid.

“Our investment funds have not been returned, and we have lost normal contact with the immigration company,” she wrote. “Through communication with other investors, I learned that there may be problems with the project, which made our $500,000 unable to be recovered.”

I suspect it's how "project" is defined. Is it the subset to which the investors' money was dedicated? The entire Hudson Yards? 

Transparency remains lacking. 

Grievances persist

Indeed, below are a couple of random tweets I found regarding Related and EB-5

Jeff Blau and Related Companies under his control, are a huge scam. Thousands of EB-5 investors who have been involved for a decade have not received any interest or witnessed any indication of capital return despite the initial promises made. Do not believe a word from this man.

— GinTonic (@GinToni48725617) May 20, 2023

@Jeff Blau@Related Companies Hello Jeff Blau, you are such a success, I hope you are also an honest person!
I'm the one of Investors Hudson Yards EB-5 project. I want to know why you don't return capital to my family till today.
My family and I need this money.

— Sarah Z (@SarahZ989114464) May 23, 2023