{"id":"court_ctb_1346_0","court":"CTB","case_no":"22-50073","doc_number":1346,"sub_number":0,"doc_type":"UNKNOWN","filed_date":"2023-01-19","title":"| UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
BRIDGEPORT DIVISION","summary_zh":null,"summary_en":null,"body_en":"| UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
BRIDGEPORT DIVISION | |\n|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|\n| ------------------------------------------------------ | x |\n| In re: | :
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Chapter 11 |\n| HO WAN KWOK, et al.,1 | :
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Case No. 22-50073 (JAM) |\n| Debtors. | :
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(Jointly Administered)
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PACIFIC ALLIANCE ASIA
OPPORTUNITY FUND L.P.,
Plaintiff,
v.
HO WAN KWOK,
Defendant.
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Adv. Proceeding No. 22-05032 (JAM)
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x |\n\n# **DECLARATION OF DOUGLASS BARRON IN SUPPORT OF EMERGENCY MOTION OF CHAPTER 11 TRUSTEE AND GENEVER DEBTORS FOR ENTRY OF ORDER (A) COMPELLING INDIVIDUAL DEBTOR TO COMPLY WITH PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION WITH RESPECT TO CLAIMS PROCESS, (B) QUASHING INDIVIDUAL DEBTORS' OBJECTIONS TO CLAIMS, AND (C) BARRING INDIVIDUAL DEBTOR FROM FILING FURTHER OBJECTIONS TO CLAIMS, ABSENT LEAVE OF COURT**\n\nI, Douglass Barron, declare:\n\n1. I am an attorney admitted to practice law in the State of New York and am an\n\nassociate at the law firm of Paul Hastings LLP, 200 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10166, counsel\n\nfor the appointed Chapter 11 Trustee to the Individual Debtor, Kwok's estate (the \"Trustee\"). I\n\n1 The Debtors in these chapter 11 cases are Ho Wan Kwok (also known as Guo Wengui, Miles Guo, and Miles Kwok, as well as numerous other aliases) (last four digits of tax identification number: 9595), Genever Holdings LLC (last four digits of tax identification number: 8202) and Genever Holdings Corporation. The mailing address for the Trustee, Genever Holdings LLC, and the Genever Holdings Corporation is Paul Hastings LLP, 200 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10166 c/o Luc A. Despins, as Trustee for the Estate of Ho Wan Kwok (solely for purposes of notices and communications).\n\nrespectfully submit this declaration in support of the *Emergency Motion of Luc A. Despins, as Chapter 11 Trustee for Estate of Ho Wan Kwok, for Entry of Order (A) Compelling Individual Debtor to Comply with Preliminary Injunction With Respect to Claims Process, (B) Quashing Individual Debtors' Objections to Claims, and (C) Barring Individual Debtor from Filing Further Objections to Claims, Absent Leave of Court* (the \"Motion\").\n\n2. Attached as **Exhibit 1** is a screenshot of @OXVDESIGN's January 10, 2023, 11:40 AM Gettr post.\n\n3. Attached as **Exhibit 2** is a screenshot of the banner at the top of the Gettr account @OXVDESIGN.\n\n4. Attached as **Exhibit 3** is a screenshot of @piaochanghai's January 10, 2023, 10:53 AM Gettr post (with redactions added to protect personal information).\n\n5. Attached as **Exhibit 4** is a screenshot of the banner at the top of the Gettr account @piaochanghai.\n\n6. Attached as **Exhibit 5** is a screenshot of @MilesGuo's January 13, 2023, 10:45 AM Gettr post.\n\n7. Attached as **Exhibit 6** is a true and correct copy of the August 6, 2019 hearing transcript of *In re Cole*, No. 10-50091 (JAM) (Bankr. D. Conn.).\n\n8. Attached as **Exhibit 7** is a true and correct copy of the August 10, 2019 hearing transcript of *In re Cole*, No. 10-50091 (JAM) (Bankr. D. Conn.).\n\nDated: January 19, 2023 New York, New York Respectfully submitted,\n\nBy: */s/ Douglass Barron*\n\nDouglass Barron douglassbarron@paulhastings.com PAUL HASTINGS LLP 200 Park Avenue\n\nNew York, New York 10166 (212) 318-6690\n\n*Counsel for the Chapter 11 Trustee*\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT BRIDGEPORT DIVISION In Re \\* Case No.10-50091(JAM) \\* HAROLD E. COLE, \\* Bridgeport, Connecticut \\* August 6, 2019 Debtor. \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* TRANSCRIPT OF MOTION TO WITHDRAW AS ATTORNEY and ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE BEFORE THE HONORABLE JULIE A. MANNING CHIEF UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE APPEARANCES: Chapter 7 Trustee: KARA S. RESCIA, ESQ PAIGE M. VAILLANCOURT, ESQ. Rescia & Katz, LLP 5104 Bigelow Commons Enfield, CT 06082 For the Debtor: MAXIMINO MEDINA, JR., ESQ. Zeldes, Needle & Cooper 1000 Lafayette Blvd Bridgeport, CT 06601 For the U.S. Trustee: HOLLEY L. CLAIBORN, ESQ. Office of the United States Trustee The Giaimo Federal Building 150 Court Street, Room 302 New Haven, CT 06510 Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording, transcript produced by transcription service. **Fiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc. 4 Research Drive, Suite 402 Shelton, Connecticut 06484 (203)929-9992**\n\nCase 22-50073 Doc 1346 Filed 01/19/23 Entered 01/19/23 17:40:14 Page 16 of 21 Case 10-50091 Doc 1267 Filed 10/07/21 Entered 10/07/21 08:05:25 Page 39 of 95\n\nHarold E. Cole August 6, 2019 39 1 THE COURT: I already saw your motion. Is that 2 what you mean? 3 MS. HEMINWAY: Correct. 4 THE COURT: Yeah. 5 MS. HEMINWAY: But I'm not allowed to provide any 6 -- 7 THE COURT: Well, you don't have standing to move 8 for the withdraw -- to -- a debtor doesn't have the right to 9 say that the trustee can be removed. 10 MS. HEMINWAY: I understand. I have been told 11 throughout this process that if the debtor has an excess 12 estate then he can in fact have limited input to how things 13 are managed because -- 14 THE COURT: There's case law on both sides of that 15 equation and there's no controlling case law in Connecticut. 16 And in fact the case law on that issue says that the debtor 17 has to prove that there will be a surplus. And at this 18 point, given what the trustees told me, there may not even 19 be a surplus for your dad. 20 The fact that we've gone through these processes 21 in different steps, and there was an auction some time ago 22 where the belief was that there would be more money that 23 would be obtained in the auction, and there wasn't, there 24 may not be. 25 And so I'm not going to hold anything up because\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\nCase 22-50073 Doc 1346 Filed 01/19/23 Entered 01/19/23 17:40:14 Page 17 of 21 Case 10-50091 Doc 1267 Filed 10/07/21 Entered 10/07/21 08:05:25 Page 66 of 95\n\nHarold E. Cole August 6, 2019 66 1 So it would have been in the best interest of the 2 bankruptcy estate to have an auctioneer sell it that said it 3 was only 200,000? 4 THE COURT: I don't understand your point. 5 MS. HEMINWAY: We had an auctioneer that would 6 liquidate it who ran Early American antique auctions on a 7 very regular basis. He ran ten per year in each of the 8 years prior to -- 9 THE COURT: Then what's -- you have information 10 about his rate of recovery and all the assets that he 11 auctioned off? 12 That he had an 80 percent or 90 percent or 100 13 percent, you know, recovery of funds based upon his estimate 14 of what he would get? 15 MS. HEMINWAY: We can certainly -- we could have 16 certainly provided a record. 17 THE COURT: Well, it's -- it's -- 18 MS. HEMINWAY: We could have -- it's very easy to 19 provide a record of an auction hall's pre-auction estimates 20 and the realized bids. We could have certainly provided 21 that to the trustee. 22 THE COURT: Okay. 23 MS. HEMINWAY: And it's very easy to determine 24 that. 25 THE COURT: But as I started today, the hearing\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\nCase 22-50073 Doc 1346 Filed 01/19/23 Entered 01/19/23 17:40:14 Page 18 of 21 Case 10-50091 Doc 1267 Filed 10/07/21 Entered 10/07/21 08:05:25 Page 67 of 95\n\nHarold E. Cole August 6, 2019 67 1 today, I said to you at the very beginning, you don't have 2 standing to make these arguments. The debtor has no rights 3 anymore as a Chapter 7 debtor unless and until there's 4 clearly a surplus. And even then the case law says not so 5 fast. 6 The Chapter 7 Trustee has the rights and 7 responsibilities and duties under the bankruptcy code. 8 She's trying to carry out those duties. That's what's going 9 to happen. 10 MS. HEMINWAY: And those duties are better served 11 by selling it for a lesser amount? 12 THE COURT: She's not selling it for a lesser 13 amount. She's going to sell it for as much an amount as it 14 can produce. 15 MS. HEMINWAY: Your Honor, I provided 16 documentation to the trustee. Her auctioneers are not 17 experts in Early American antiques. 18 Even in the motion that's before the Court today 19 -- 20 THE COURT: What motion that's before the Court? 21 MS. HEMINWAY: What Your Honor approved recently 22 on the motion to sell antiques, they recommend -- they 23 represent certain information about online sales and leaving 24 inventory in place because it brings more money. 25 If you look at the online sales they have sold,\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\nUNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT BRIDGEPORT DIVISION In Re \\* Case No. 10-50091(JAM) \\* HAROLD E. COLE, \\* \\* Debtor. \\* \\* HAMILTON GROUP, LLC, \\* Adv. Proc. No. 21-5007 \\* Plaintiff, \\* Bridgeport, Connecticut \\* August 10, 2021 vs. \\* \\* HAROLD E. COLE, et al., \\* \\* Defendants. \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* TRANSCRIPT OF THIRD AMENDED MOTION TO REMOVE TRUSTEE; MOTION FOR LEAVE OF COURT TO FILE AMENDED CIVIL ACTION BEFORE THE HONORABLE JULIE A. MANNING CHIEF UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE APPEARANCES: Chapter 7 Trustee: KARA S. RESCIA, ESQ PAIGE M. VAILLANCOURT, ESQ. Rescia & Katz, LLP 5104 Bigelow Commons Enfield, CT 06082 For the Debtor: NEAL P. ROGAN, ESQ. Law Offices of Neal Rogan, LLC 315 Post Road West Westport, CT 06880 Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording, transcript produced by transcription service. **Fiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc. 4 Research Drive, Suite 402 Shelton, Connecticut 06484 (203)929-9992**\n\n1 really had the opportunity, and I know the Court mentioned 2 that there have been hearings on this, but this is the first 3 time we've had an opportunity to present a full evidentiary 4 hearing on this motion to remove the trustee.\n\n5 THE COURT: Well, Attorney Rogan, as we've 6 discussed in prior hearings, the case law is very clear that 7 in a Chapter 7 case, a debtor doesn't have standing to raise 8 issues unless there is going to be some surplus from the 9 estate, and we've had this discussion on several occasions, 10 including back to when Mr. Berillo represented Mr. Cole, 11 before Ms. Hemingway was involved. And they were completely 12 in agreement with the process and the sale of all of these 13 assets, until Ms. Hemingway came involved and said that she 14 thought that the appraisers and the auctioneers were not 15 right and that someone else should be conducting the 16 auction.\n\n17 Those motions were all denied, and there were 18 orders entered requiring the cooperation of the debtor with 19 regard to the sale and auction of the assets of the debtor's 20 estate.\n\n21 Now we can go back, and I'm happy to do so, and go 22 through all the representations made on the record by 23 Attorney Berillo and others in his firm, about the -- when 24 this case was converted and what happened in Chapter 11 by 25 the way, Attorney Rogan, which is -- you had no -- nothing\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.","body_zh":null,"key_entities":["Kwok","Ho Wan Kwok","GETTR","Je","Guo","Paul Hastings","Despins","Miles Guo"],"ecf_references":[{"doc_number":1267,"court":"CTB"}],"word_count":1887,"status":"published","published_at":"2023-01-19 00:00:00","created_at":"2023-01-19","updated_at":"2026-07-07 07:50:31"}