Case Background
Luis Noboa founded Taxinet Corporation in November 2013 to establish a safe and efficient public transportation system. The company worked with a technology team named Icreon Tech to design and build a mobile application that allowed passengers to hail taxicabs remotely. Taxinet spent substantial financial resources creating a detailed business model and app infrastructure. This operating system included built-in GPS navigation with real-time traffic information, a digital taximeter, standard debit and credit card payment gateways, and vehicle tracking systems complete with emergency panic buttons for both drivers and riders.
Taxinet successfully launched its mobile platform and taxi services in Ecuador in 2014. Following that initial launch, Noboa wanted to expand the brand into other major Latin American markets. He identified Mexico City as an ideal expansion market because the city had over 100,000 registered taxicabs that recorded more than one million daily passenger trips.
In April 2015, Santiago Leon, a former Mexican politician, learned that the Mexico City government wanted to modernize its public transportation network. The Secretary of Mobility, Rufino H. Leon Tovar, had written a letter to Leon's business partner, Eduardo Zayas Dueñas, expressing official interest in upgrading local taxicabs with satellite monitoring systems and mobile panic buttons connected directly to municipal security networks. Leon lacked experience in the transportation sector and had never developed a mobile application or managed a tech-driven logistics company. To secure the municipal contract, Leon chose to partner with an existing business that already possessed functioning ride-hailing technology. A mutual friend, Pedro Domit, introduced Leon to Noboa in May or June 2015.
The parties met at Noboa's home in Key Biscayne, Florida, to discuss a corporate partnership targeting the Mexico City infrastructure upgrade. They orally agreed to join forces. Taxinet promised to contribute its software architecture, proprietary business design, and technical industry know-how. Leon promised to utilize his political connections and familiarity with Mexican bureaucratic procedures to secure the official city contract.
Cause
The dispute arose after Taxinet spent months sharing its confidential business information, financial data, and application frameworks with Leon to pitch the project to government officials. In July 2015, the partners orally agreed to form a specialized Mexican entity to manage the upcoming contract. They initially structured the business to give Taxinet a 70% ownership stake and Leon a 30% stake, with Domit receiving a 9% share from Leon’s portion. The partners later modified this arrangement, giving Taxinet a 60% stake and Leon a 40% stake.
Relying on these explicit agreements, Taxinet handed over proprietary backend configurations, administrative data, marketing plans, and logistical strategy guides. Leon used this data to deliver a series of high-level presentations to the Secretary of Mobility in August and September 2015. On September 25, 2015, Leon notified Taxinet that he had successfully closed the deal with the city and that official operations would begin in January 2016.
However, relations collapsed in October 2015. Taxinet alleged that Leon abruptly severed ties, refused to sign a mandatory non-disclosure agreement, and offered Taxinet a reduced 25% stake with zero corporate control. Taxinet discovered that Leon had been working secretly with third parties to build a copycat software program named Libre through a separate entity called Servicios Digitales Lusad. Taxinet claimed Leon deliberately pushed the company out of the multi-million-dollar government venture after he extracted their entire technical framework. Leon then launched the identical ride-hailing system under his new corporate label to secure the city profits exclusively.
Injury
Taxinet suffered severe financial injuries because Leon permanently deprived the company of its majority ownership stake, operational control, and projected revenues from the massive Mexico City market. The company lost the fair value of the highly specialized software architecture, operational blueprints, and proprietary backend databases that it had spent years developing and funding. Furthermore, Leon tarnished Taxinet's corporate reputation by falsely telling the Secretary of Mobility that Taxinet’s operating system was a non-functional fraud.
Damages Sought
Taxinet requested actual compensatory damages, restitution for the fair value of the benefits it provided, and the immediate imposition of a constructive trust over all corporate profits and ownership shares generated by Leon’s new Mexico City business venture. The Plaintiff also sought prejudgment interest, legal fees, and administrative Court costs.
Key Arguments and Proceedings
Legal Representation
Plaintiff(s): Taxinet Corporation
Counsel for Plaintiff(s): Omar Ortega | Rosdaisy Rodriguez | Joseph Peter Klock , Jr. | Reinaldo J. Dorta , Jr. | Christopher John King | JuanCarlos Antorcha
Defendant(s): Santiago Leon
Counsel for Defendant(s): Harry A. Payton | Darcy Farrell Currey | Rafael Recalde
Key Arguments or Remarks by Counsel
Claims
The Plaintiff asserted that Leon committed a clear breach of their joint venture agreement by cutting Taxinet out of the agreed ownership structure after utilizing its platform to land the municipal contract. Taxinet’s counsel argued that a binding confidential relationship existed, which placed a fiduciary duty on Leon to act with honesty, fairness, and good faith.
The company raised claims of fraud and fraudulent inducement, asserting that Leon never intended to honor the joint venture. Instead, he used the promise of a partnership as a deceptive trick to extract confidential source specs, financial models, and operational frameworks. The Plaintiff brought a count for conversion, stating that Leon unlawfully misappropriated proprietary assets to launch Libre.
Additionally, Taxinet sued for tortious interference, claiming Leon intentionally ruined their prospective business relationship with the city by spreading lies to the Secretary of Mobility. Finally, the Plaintiff pursued alternative claims of promissory estoppel and unjust enrichment, arguing that Leon eagerly accepted and retained invaluable corporate assets and must pay the fair market value for those benefits.
Defense
Leon denied all allegations of misconduct and raised multiple affirmative defenses. His primary defense stated that the parties never finalized the material terms of a transaction, meaning there was no meeting of the minds or enforceable contract. Leon argued that Taxinet and its founder, Noboa, fraudulently induced the initial talks by lying about the actual capabilities of their software. Noboa repeatedly claimed that his app operated successfully across a fleet of 5,000 taxis in Ecuador and could easily scale up to handle Mexico City's 139,000 active cabs. Leon asserted that these claims were completely false.
The defense argued that subsequent technological evaluations proved the Ecuadorian app was plagued with operating errors and only ran on 100 to 250 vehicles. Leon's counsel contended that he properly withdrew from ongoing negotiations after discovering this software misrepresentation.
He added that his subsequent actions were protected under a privilege to compete, as ride-hailing app components like GPS tracking, panic buttons, and social media links were public, open-source technologies rather than unique trade secrets. Leon also argued that Taxinet failed to mitigate its damages because the company entirely ignored a public bidding process launched by the Mexican government in May 2016.
Jury Verdict
The trial concluded with a jury verdict on June 4, 2026, before United States District Judge Federico A. Moreno. The jury deliberated on the specialized verdict form and ruled in favor of Plaintiff Taxinet Corporation on its claim of unjust enrichment.
The jury answered "YES" to the core factual question, finding that Taxinet successfully proved Santiago Leon individually received a valuable business benefit from the corporation. The jurors determined that the approximate timeline of this uncompensated benefit ran from June to December 2015.
To compensate Taxinet Corporation for the business models and operational assets provided to Leon, the jury awarded damages in the total amount of $40,000,000. Following the jury's verdict, Judge Moreno issued a final judgment against Santiago Leon for the full $40,000,000 sum, ordering that post-judgment interest would accrue on the award moving forward.
Court documents are available upon request at [email protected]
