{"id":"court_ctb_181_0","court":"CTB","case_no":"22-50073","doc_number":181,"sub_number":0,"doc_type":"ORDER","filed_date":null,"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\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_ In re : Chapter 11 : Ho Wan Kwok, : Case No. 22-50073 : Debtor.<sup>1</sup> : : \\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_:\n\n## **LIMITED OPPOSITION OF THE OFFICIAL COMMITTEE OF UNSECURED CREDITORS TO THE MOTION OF THE UNITED STATES TRUSTEE TO APPOINT AN EXAMINER OR A CHAPTER 11 TRUSTEE**\n\nThe Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the \"Committee\") of Debtor and Debtor in Possession, Ho Wan Kwok (the \"Debtor\"), herby submits this limited opposition to the motion of the United States Trustee (\"UST\") to appoint an examiner or a chapter 11 trustee in this case (the \"UST Motion\") (ECF 102), and respectfully states as follows:\n\n## **RELEVANT PROCEDURAL HISTORY**\n\n1. On February 15, 2022 (the \"Petition Date\"), the Debtor filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11, Title 11 of the United States Code (the \"Bankruptcy Code\"). Since that time, the Debtor has remained a debtor-in-possession pursuant to §§1107 and 1108 of the Bankruptcy Code.\n\n2. No trustee or examiner has yet been appointed in the Debtor's bankruptcy case, although on March 19, 2022, the UST Motion seeking the appointment of a chapter 11 trustee or an examiner. The Examiner/Trustee Motion is scheduled for hearing on April 13, 2022, and\n\n<sup>1</sup> The Debtor is known by the following names: Guo Wengui; Miles Guo; Miles Kwok; and Ho Wan Kwok.\n\naccording to the UST's Amended Proposed Order at n. 1 (ECF No. 116), the Debtor has agreed to the Court's directing the UST to appoint an examiner in this case.\n\n3. On March 21, 2022, the Committee was officially appointed by the United States Trustee and on March 28, 2022, selected Pullman & Comley, LLC (\"P&C\") as its counsel.<sup>2</sup>\n\n4. The UST Motion, along with other motions and applications filed in the case are scheduled for hearing on April 13, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.\n\n#### **JURISDICTION AND VENUE**\n\n5. This Court has jurisdiction over the UST Motion and the contested matter initiated thereby pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 157 and 1334. Venue is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1408 and 1409. The statutory predicates for the relief sought herein are 11 U.S.C. §1106, Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2007.1, 9014, and D. Conn. LBR 9014-1.\n\n### **COMMITTEE POSITION**\n\n6. The Committee agrees with the UST that the Debtor's conduct justifies serious consideration of the appointment of a chapter 11 trustee, but in the Committee's view, it is not warranted or in in the best interest of the estate and its creditors at this time.\n\n7. Inasmuch as the Debtor claims to have virtually no assets and appears to have no business operations that could potentially impact the estate, more information is needed before the UST can identify what precisely a trustee would be managing instead of the Debtor.\n\n8. As for an examiner, while the Committee agrees with the UST that a thorough investigation respecting the Debtor's assets, income, expenses, as well as estate causes of action, is necessary, the Committee is poised to undertake such an investigation, such that the appointment of an examiner would be duplicative and wasteful of time and resources.\n\n<sup>2</sup> The Committee filed an application for authority to employ P&C on April 5, 2022.\n\n9. Moreover, unlike an examiner, the Committee can seek derivative standing to pursue estate causes of action, which in this case appear likely to exist but not likely to be pursued by the Debtor. *See Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors v. Pardee* (*In re Stanwich Financial Services Corp.*), 288 B.R. 24, 27 (Bankr. D. Conn. 2002).\n\n10. The Committee otherwise joins and adopts by reference the Limited Opposition of Creditors Rui Ma and Weican Meng to the Motion of the United States Trustee to Appoint an Examiner or a Chapter 11 Trustee (ECF No. 170).\n\n11. Accordingly, the Committee submits that in the exercise of its discretion, the Court allow the Committee time to undertake its investigation and defer consideration of the UST Motion to a later date to determine at that time whether the relief requested is warranted.\n\n**WHEREFORE**, the Committee respectfully requests that the Court deny or defer consideration of the UST Motion and grant such other or further relief as it may deem just, equitable and proper.\n\nDated: Bridgeport, Connecticut April 6, 2022\n\n# **OFFICIAL COMMITTEE OF UNSECURED CREDITORS OF HO WAN KWOK**\n\nBy: */s/Irve J. Goldman*  Irve J. Goldman Jonathan A. Kaplan Pullman & Comley, LLC 850 Main Street, 8th Floor PO Box 7006 Bridgeport, CT 06601-7006 (203) 330-2213 igoldman@pullcom.com\n\nIts Attorneys (Application Pending)\n\n## **UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT BRIDGEPORT DIVISION**\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_ In re : Chapter 11 : Ho Wan Kwok, : Case No. 22-50073 : Debtor.<sup>1</sup> : : April 6, 2022 \\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_:\n\n## **CERTIFICATION OF SERVICE**\n\nI Irve J. Goldman, herby certify that on the 6th day of April, 2022, The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors' (the \"Committee\") *Opposition to the Motion of the United States Trustee to Appoint an Examiner or a Chapter 11 Trustee* was filed via the Court's CM/ECF electronic filing system (\"CM/ECF\"), which sent notice to all parties receiving notification through CM/ECF.\n\n> */s/ Irve J. Goldman*  Irve J. Goldman\n\nThe last four digits of the Debtor's taxpayer identification number are 9595.","body_zh":"United States Bankruptcy Court District of Connecticut Bridgeport Division（美国康涅狄格区联邦破产法院布里奇波特分部）\n\n关于：第11章\nHo Wan Kwok（郭文贵），\n债务人。1\n案号：22-50073\n\n官方无担保债权人委员会对联邦破产受托人关于指定审查人或第11章受托人之动议的有限反对意见\n\n债务人兼占有中债务人 Ho Wan Kwok（郭文贵）（以下简称“债务人”）的官方无担保债权人委员会（以下简称“委员会”），特此对 United States Trustee（联邦破产受托人，以下简称“UST”）关于在本案中指定一名审查人或一名第11章受托人的动议（以下简称“UST动议”）（ECF 102）提交本有限反对意见，并谨陈述如下：\n\n相关诉讼程序历史\n\n1. 2022年2月15日（以下简称“申请日”），债务人根据《美国法典》第11编（以下简称《破产法典》）第11章提交了自愿破产救济申请。自那时起，债务人根据《破产法典》第§§1107条和第1108条的规定，一直保持占有中债务人身份。\n\n2. 债务人的破产案件中尚未指定任何受托人或审查人，尽管在2022年3月19日，UST提出了寻求指定第11章受托人或审查人的动议。审查人/受托人动议预定于2022年4月13日举行听证，且\n\n1 债务人以如下姓名为人所知：Guo Wengui（郭文贵）；Miles Guo；Miles Kwok；以及 Ho Wan Kwok。\n\n根据UST的修正拟定裁定第1条附注（ECF No. 116），债务人已同意法院指示UST在本案中指定一名审查人。\n\n3. 2022年3月21日，委员会由联邦破产受托人正式任命，并于2022年3月28日选定 Pullman & Comley, LLC（以下简称“P&C”）作为其法律顾问。2\n\n4. UST动议连同在本案中提交的其他动议和申请，预定于2022年4月13日上午10:00举行听证。\n\n管辖权与审判地\n\n5. 根据28 U.S.C. §§ 157及1334之规定，本法院对UST动议及由此引发的争议事项具有管辖权。根据28 U.S.C. §§ 1408及1409之规定，审判地正当。在此寻求救济的法定依据为11 U.S.C. § 1106，Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2007.1、9014，以及D. Conn. LBR 9014-1。\n\n委员会立场\n\n6. 委员会赞同UST的观点，即债务人的行为理应慎重考虑指定一名第11章受托人，但委员会认为，目前这样做并不合理，也不符合破产财团及其债权人的最大利益。\n\n7. 鉴于债务人声称几乎没有任何资产，且似乎没有任何可能对破产财团产生影响的业务营运，在UST能够明确受托人具体将替代债务人管理什么之前，需要获取更多信息。\n\n8. 至于审查人，虽然委员会赞同UST关于对债务人的资产、收入、支出以及破产财团的诉讼事由进行彻底调查是必要的这一观点，但委员会已准备好开展此类调查，因此指定审查人将是重复的，且浪费时间和资源。\n\n2 委员会已于2022年4月5日提交了聘用P&C的授权申请。\n\n9. 此外，与审查人不同，委员会可以寻求派生诉讼资格来提起破产财团的诉讼事由，而在本案中，此类诉讼事由似乎可能存在，但不大可能由债务人提起。参见 Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors v. Pardee (In re Stanwich Financial Services Corp.), 288 B.R. 24, 27 (Bankr. D. Conn. 2002)。\n\n10. 委员会在其他方面同意并援引债权人 Rui Ma（马蕊）与 Weican Meng（孟维参）对联邦破产受托人关于指定审查人或第11章受托人之动议的有限反对意见（ECF No. 170）。\n\n11. 因此，委员会提请法院在行使其自由裁量权时，给予委员会时间开展其调查，并将对UST动议的审议推迟至稍后日期，以便届时确定所请求的救济是否合理。\n\n综上所述，委员会谨请求法院驳回或推迟审议UST动议，并给予法院认为公正、衡平及适当的其他或进一步救济。\n\n日期：康涅狄格州布里奇波特 2022年4月6日\nHO WAN KWOK 官方无担保债权人委员会\n\n签署人：/s/ Irve J. Goldman\nIrve J. Goldman\nJonathan A. Kaplan\nPullman & Comley, LLC\n850 Main Street, 8th Floor\nPO Box 7006\nBridgeport, CT 06601-7006\n(203) 330-2213\nigoldman@pullcom.com\n\n其代理律师（申请审理中）\n\nUnited States Bankruptcy Court District of Connecticut Bridgeport Division（美国康涅狄格区联邦破产法院布里奇波特分部）\n\n关于：第11章\nHo Wan Kwok，\n债务人。1\n案号：22-50073\n2022年4月6日\n\n送达证明\n\n我，Irve J. Goldman，特此证明：于2022年4月6日，官方无担保债权人委员会（以下简称“委员会”）对联邦破产受托人关于指定审查人或第11章受托人之动议的反对意见已通过法院的 CM/ECF 电子归档系统（以下简称“CM/ECF”）提交，该系统已向所有通过 CM/ECF 接收通知的当事人发送了通知。\n\n/s/ Irve J. Goldman\nIrve J. Goldman\n\n债务人纳税人识别号的后四位数字为9595。","key_entities":["Kwok","Ho Wan Kwok","Guo","Miles Guo"],"ecf_references":[{"doc_number":102,"court":"CTB"},{"doc_number":116,"court":"CTB"},{"doc_number":170,"court":"CTB"}],"word_count":869,"status":"published","published_at":null,"created_at":null,"updated_at":"2026-08-23 12:36:04"}