Yost Seeks Lead Role in Investor Lawsuit Against Owner of Cash App, Square

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Attorney General Dave Yost is seeking lead-plaintiff status in a securities class-action lawsuit accusing the financial tech company Block Inc. of misleading investors and causing $12.6 million in losses for Ohio’s largest public pension fund, plus billions more for other investors.
 
Yost’s motion asks a U.S. District Court to appoint the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System as lead plaintiff in the case. The lawsuit claims that Block kept investors in the dark about widespread compliance failures that created a haven for illegal activity on Cash App and Square, the company’s flagship platforms for digital payments.
 
“Block claimed its products were fortified against crime, but in reality, the front door was left wide-open to drug traffickers, money launderers and worse,” Yost said. “The false narrative cost investors billions of dollars, and the company needs to make it right.”
 
The filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeks damages from Block, headquartered in Oakland, California, for the financial losses caused by the company’s wrongdoing. Also named as defendants are Block executives Jack Dorsey and Amrita Ahuja.
 
According to the lawsuit, Block’s lack of basic oversight enabled criminals to make thousands of payments for illegal activity, including money laundering, child sex abuse, drug and sex trafficking, terrorism financing, contract murder, and transactions that bypassed economic sanctions.  
 
Beginning in early 2023, a series of disclosures revealed that Block’s lax approach to compliance had given rise to a hotbed of illegal activity, causing significant harm to individual and institutional investors. That March, the price of the company’s shares plunged nearly 15% after an investment research firm published an incriminating report on Block’s practices.
 
Shares tumbled roughly 14% more when Block announced in August 2023 that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice had launched an investigation into the report’s allegations. News outlets in May 2024 revealed that investigators were looking into allegations made by a former Block employee, leading to an additional 8% drop in share prices. In all, Block’s share value fell 77% from its peak during the four years covered by the lawsuit.

In January of this year, state and federal regulators ordered Block to pay $255 million in penalties, including up to $120 million in refunds to consumers.  

MEDIA CONTACT:
Dominic Binkley: 614-728-4127

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