{"id":"court_ctb_546_0","court":"CTB","case_no":"22-50073","doc_number":546,"sub_number":0,"doc_type":"ORDER","filed_date":"2022-07-13","title":"UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT BRIDGEPORT DIVISION In Re \\* Case No. 22-50073(JAM) \\* HO WAN KWO","summary_zh":null,"summary_en":null,"body_en":"UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT BRIDGEPORT DIVISION In Re \\* Case No. 22-50073(JAM) \\* HO WAN KWOK, \\* Bridgeport, Connecticut \\* July 6, 2022 Debtor. \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* \\* TRANSCRIPT OF APPLICATION FOR ORDER APPROVING APPOINTMENT OF CHAPTER 11 TRUSTEE BEFORE THE HONORABLE JULIE A. MANNING UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE APPEARANCES: For the Debtor: JEFFREY L. JONAS, ESQ. Brown Rudnick, LLP Seven Times Square New York, NY 10036 For the Creditor, Pacific PETER FRIEDMAN, ESQ. Alliance Asia Opportunity STUART M. SARNOFF, ESQ. Fund L.P.: O'Melveny & Myers LLP Times Square Tower 7 Times Square New York, NY 10036 PATRICK BIRNEY, ESQ. Robinson & Cole 28 Trumbull Street Hartford, CT 06103 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\nAPPEARANCES Cont'd: For the Creditors Committee: IRVE GOLDMAN, ESQ. Pullman & Comley 850 Main Street Bridgeport, CT 06601 For the Creditor, Rui Ma: KRISTEN MAYHEW, ESQ. McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter 225 Liberty Street 36th Floor New York, NY 10281 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 For the Creditor, JAY MARSHALL WOLMAN, ESQ. Logan Cheng: Randazza Legal Group, PLLC 100 Pearl Street, 14th Floor Hartford, CT 06103\n\n (Proceedings commenced at 3:07 p.m.) THE COURT: I would like to take appearances for the record, starting with the debtor's counsel, please. MR. JONAS: Good afternoon, Your Honor. It's Jeff Jonas from Brown Rudnick on behalf of the debtor. THE COURT: Good afternoon. And counsel for PAX? MR. FRIEDMAN: Good afternoon, Your Honor. It's Peter Friedman, O'Melveny & Myers. Mr. Sarnoff and Mr. Patrick Birney from Robinson & Cole are joining me. THE COURT: Good afternoon. And counsel for the creditors committee? MR. GOLDMAN: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Irve Goldman, Pullman & Comley, representing the creditors committee. THE COURT: And counsel for the creditors Rui Ma and two other creditors? I just don't have it in front of me. I'm sorry. You are on mute, Attorney Mayhew. MS. MAYHEW: Thank you, Your Honor. Sorry about that. Good afternoon. Kristen Mayhew, McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter, on behalf of creditors Rui Ma, Weican Meng and Zheng Wu. THE COURT: Good afternoon. And counsel for the Office of the United States\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\n Trustee? MS. CLAIBORN: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Holley Claiborn for the U.S. Trustee. THE COURT: Good afternoon. Is there anyone's appearance I didn't take and that needs to be noted for the record? MR. WOLMAN: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Jay Wolman, of Randazza Legal Group, for creditor Logan Cheng. THE COURT: You know, I'm sorry, Mr. Wolman. On the video I can't see everyone at the same time so I didn't see you. I apologize. Is there anyone else that would like to note their appearance for the record. (No audible response.) THE COURT: Okay. Then I will turn -- you know, this is a continued hearing from yesterday with regard to the status of the appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee in this matter. And I know, Attorney Claiborn, you told me yesterday that it was not likely there would be any progress with regard to the appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee, a successor trustee. Obviously -- I didn't look at the docket, but I believe nothing's been filed, so I would just ask you to provide a report to the Court on where things stand.\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\n MS. CLAIBORN: Thank you, Your Honor. Preliminarily I wanted to circle back to a topic we discussed yesterday and I want to respond to some of the concerns that the Court raised with respect to the absence of information on the docket about the conflicts that caused the withdrawal of the notice of appointment for Mr. Whitely. We heard the Court. We wanted to let the Court know that there is a continuing duty, an obligation, on the part of every trustee to continue to search out and disclose conflicts that may come to light and that's exactly what happened in this particular case. What was uncovered was a connection to Bravo Luck that prompted the U.S. Trustee and the trustee to reach a\n\n consensus that the trustee should not stay in place and that we should address the situation.\n\n And so having not encountered that particular event -- series of events before, the determination was made that the best way to handle it at that time was to do a withdrawal of the application to avoid the Court's approval of that candidate. And we wanted to avoid creating further problems.\n\n Turning to where we are now, since yesterday we have been in communications with PAX and with the committee and with other creditors. We are also in constant communication right now with two trustee candidates. There\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\n are ongoing efforts to complete conflicts checks. And the current hope and intention of the U.S. Trustee is to appoint a trustee tomorrow. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. And I thank you for the explanation of everything that you noted on the record today. With regard to tomorrow, would you then be filing your notice of appointment and application that you filed similarly with regard to the -- similarly with regard to the candidate that accepted the appointment last week? MS. CLAIBORN: Yes, Your Honor. It would be the same process. THE COURT: So the hope is that you would be able to accomplish that tomorrow? MS. CLAIBORN: That is the current hope. THE COURT: Okay. And if that's accomplished then I would suggest that we have a hearing on Friday and get the trustee appointed immediately. Does anyone have any concern about that, assuming the United States Trustee's Office is able to finalize what it needs to finalize and then file on the docket the notice of appointment and the application for approval? (No audible response.) THE COURT: Okay. The hearing on Friday, I would argue -- but I'm happy to hear other perspectives -- does\n\n## Case 22-50073 Doc 546 Filed 07/13/22 Entered 07/13/22 15:20:52 Page 7 of 10\n\n not need to be in person because I believe -- although if anyone disagrees, I'd like you to voice the disagreement now -- that it would be somewhat perfunctory in that what the United States Trustee's Office is asking for -- and what -- although the rules aren't well written, you could argue the rule says is necessary, is another order appointing -- approving the appointment of the specific person, aside from the fact that it's already been ordered to be appointed, so I think it would be somewhat perfunctory. And I agree with Attorney Claiborn that every\n\n trustee and professional has ongoing obligations with regard to conflicts and other issues no matter what chapter of the code they're serving under.\n\n And if there is some reason why any of the -- any party in the case felt there was a problem with the trustee, that they'd have to either vocalize it at the hearing on Friday and/or file a subsequent motion under the applicable sections of the bankruptcy code and the rules.\n\n So I see that there's no sense to delay this once there is -- the appointment process from the United States Trustee's Office is complete.\n\n Does anyone wish to be heard on that issue? (No audible response.) THE COURT: Okay. Then I -- Attorney Claiborn, what I will ask the courtroom deputy to do is to let me know\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\n as soon as possible when someone sees -- if something's filed tomorrow, then if it's seen, then we'll schedule a hearing to be held on Friday on that. I don't know what time yet because obviously you may need part of the day tomorrow to complete your process. And then if it doesn't get completed until Friday, then any hearing on Monday would be remote as well. But that's when the hearing will be. I mean, we can't -- the passage of time is not beneficial from the Court's perspective. I don't know about anybody else, but we need to have the trustee in place and functioning as soon as possible. Anyone else wish to be heard on any issues this afternoon? (No audible response.) THE COURT: The one thing I will note, I think today is the last day to file any changes to the errata sheet of the -- of prior hearings, including, I think, the May 25th hearing. So if anybody has any changes, if they don't get filed today, then I'm going to enter an order. Probably, Mr. Friedman, because you ordered the official transcript, I think -- I'd have to go back and review that -- to have your office communicate and deliver the errata sheet to the reporter so that the transcript can be corrected.\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\n MR. FRIEDMAN: Yes, Your Honor. THE COURT: Okay. All right. Well, then we will -- thank you for the update. Go ahead. MR. FRIEDMAN: I believe we will be -- THE COURT: Go ahead, Attorney Friedman. MR. FRIEDMAN: Your Honor, it's Pete Friedman. I believe we will be filing some brief errata this afternoon. THE COURT: Okay. All right. Thank you. MR. FRIEDMAN: Thank you, Your Honor. THE COURT: Then we will see what happens over the course of the day tomorrow. And if something is filed tomorrow, we'll have a hearing on Friday. And if something isn't filed until Friday, we'll have a hearing on Monday. If nothing is filed between now and Friday, then we still might have a hearing on Monday because we need to have the Court's order have the impact and effect it's intended to have. So hearing nothing further from anyone, if there is a hearing scheduled -- I'm looking to the courtroom deputy now -- would we indicate, provide the information to all the counsel about the hearing? THE CLERK: Yes. THE COURT: Okay. Okay. Because it will be remote, we'll provide all that information to you. Okay?\n\n All right. Then I think that concludes the hearing in the Kwok matter today. And we have no further hearings today, so court is adjourned. ALL COUNSEL: Thank you, Your Honor. (Proceedings concluded at 3:18 p.m.) I, CHRISTINE FIORE, court-approved transcriber and certified electronic reporter and transcriber, certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript from the official electronic sound recording of the proceedings in the above- entitled matter. 14 July 13, 2022 15 Christine Fiore, CERT Transcriber","body_zh":"UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT BRIDGEPORT DIVISION（美国康涅狄格区破产法院布里奇波特分部）\n关于 * 案号：22-50073(JAM)\nHO WAN KWOK（郭文贵），* 康涅狄格州布里奇波特\n债务人。* 2022年7月6日\n* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *\n在 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE（美国破产法官）THE HONORABLE JULIE A. MANNING 面前进行的批准指定第 11 章受托人的命令申请之听证会记录\n出庭人员：\n代表债务人：\nJEFFREY L. JONAS, ESQ.\nBrown Rudnick, LLP\nSeven Times Square\nNew York, NY 10036\n代表债权人 Pacific Alliance Asia Opportunity Fund L.P.：\nPETER FRIEDMAN, ESQ.\nSTUART M. SARNOFF, ESQ.\nO'Melveny & Myers LLP\nTimes Square Tower\n7 Times Square\nNew York, NY 10036\nPATRICK BIRNEY, ESQ.\nRobinson & Cole\n28 Trumbull Street\nHartford, CT 06103\n程序由电子录音记录，记录件由转录服务机构制作。\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n4 Research Drive, Suite 402\nShelton, Connecticut 06484\n(203)929-9992\n\n出庭人员续：\n代表债权人委员会：\nIRVE GOLDMAN, ESQ.\nPullman & Comley\n850 Main Street\nBridgeport, CT 06601\n代表债权人 Rui Ma（马蕊）：\nKRISTEN MAYHEW, ESQ.\nMcElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter\n225 Liberty Street 36th Floor\nNew York, NY 10281\n代表 U.S. Trustee（美国联邦受托人）：\nHOLLEY L. CLAIBORN, ESQ.\nOffice of the United States Trustee（美国联邦受托人办公室）\nThe Giaimo Federal Building\n150 Court Street, Room 302\nNew Haven, CT 06510\n代表债权人 Logan Cheng（程立新）：\nJAY MARSHALL WOLMAN, ESQ.\nRandazza Legal Group, PLLC\n100 Pearl Street, 14th Floor\nHartford, CT 06103\n\n（诉讼程序于下午3:07开始）\n法庭：我想为记录进行出庭登记，请先从债务人的代理律师开始。\nJONAS 先生：法官阁下，下午好。我是代表债务人的 Brown Rudnick 的 Jeff Jonas。\n法庭：下午好。PAX 的代理律师呢？\nFRIEDMAN 先生：法官阁下，下午好。我是 O'Melveny & Myers 的 Peter Friedman。Sarnoff 先生和来自 Robinson & Cole 的 Patrick Birney 先生正与我一同出席。\n法庭：下午好。债权人委员会的代理律师呢？\nGOLDMAN 先生：法官阁下，下午好。我是 Pullman & Comley 的 Irve Goldman，代表债权人委员会。\n法庭：债权人马蕊和另外两名债权人的代理律师呢？我手头暂时没拿到名单。抱歉。Mayhew 律师，您静音了。\nMAYHEW 女士：谢谢您，法官阁下。不好意思。下午好。我是 McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter 的 Kristen Mayhew，代表债权人 Rui Ma（马蕊）、Weican Meng（孟维参）和 Zheng Wu（吴征）。\n法庭：下午好。United States Trustee（美国联邦受托人办公室）的代理律师呢？\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\n受托人？\nCLAIBORN 女士：法官阁下，下午好。我是代表美国联邦受托人的 Holley Claiborn。\n法庭：下午好。有没有哪位出庭人员我还没登记、需要记入记录的？\nWOLMAN 先生：法官阁下，下午好。我是 Randazza Legal Group 的 Jay Wolman，代表债权人 Logan Cheng（程立新）。\n法庭：不好意思，Wolman 先生。在视频上我无法同时看到所有人，所以刚才没看到您。我很抱歉。还有其他人想要记入出庭记录吗？\n（无出声回应。）\n法庭：好的。那我接下来——大家知道，这是关于本案中指定第 11 章受托人进展情况的自昨天延续至今的听证会。Claiborn 律师，我知道您昨天告诉我，关于指定第 11 章受托人、即继任受托人一事不太可能会有任何进展。显然——我没看案件卷宗，但我相信目前还没有提交任何文件，所以我想请您向法庭汇报一下目前的进展情况。\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\nCLAIBORN 女士：谢谢您，法官阁下。首先，我想回到昨天讨论的一个话题，并对法庭就卷宗中缺少关于导致撤回 Whitely 先生指定通知的利益冲突信息所提出的担忧作出回应。我们听到了法庭的意见。我们想让法庭知悉，每位受托人都有持续的责任和义务，去不断搜寻并披露可能浮出水面的利益冲突，而在本案中发生的情况正是如此。当时发现的是与 Bravo Luck 的关联，这促使美国联邦受托人与该受托人达成了一致，\n\n即该受托人不应继续留任，且我们应当处理该情况。\n\n因此，由于此前从未遇到过这种特定事件——一系列事件，当时作出的决定是，最好的处理方式就是撤回该申请，以避免法庭批准该候选人。我们希望避免制造进一步的问题。\n\n转向我们目前的进展，自昨天以来，我们一直与 PAX、委员会以及其他债权人保持沟通。我们目前也与两位受托人候选人保持着持续沟通。目前\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\n正在努力完成利益冲突排查。美国联邦受托人目前的希望和打算是在明天指定一名受托人。\n法庭：好的。谢谢。感谢您对今天记入记录的所有事情作出的解释。关于明天，届时您是否会提交指定通知和申请，就像您此前就——就上周接受指定的候选人所提交的那样？\nCLAIBORN 女士：是的，法官阁下。流程会是一样的。\n法庭：所以希望是您能在明天完成这项工作？\nCLAIBORN 女士：这确实是目前的希望。\n法庭：好的。如果完成了，那么我建议我们在周五举行听证会，并立即指定受托人。对此有人有异议吗？假设美国联邦受托人办公室能够敲定所需敲定的事项，并在卷宗中提交指定通知和批准申请的话。\n（无出声回应。）\n法庭：好的。周五的听证会，我认为——但我很乐意听取其他观点——\n\n并不需要亲自到场，因为我认为——不过如果有任何人不同意，我希望你们现在提出异议——这在某种程度上是程序性的，因为美国联邦受托人办公室所请求的——以及——尽管规则写得并不完善，但你可以主张规则所要求的，是另一份指定——批准指定特定人员的命令，除了法庭已经下令要求指定受托人这一事实之外，所以我认为这在某种程度上是程序性的。我也同意 Claiborn 律师的意见，即无论根据法典的哪一章任职，每一位受托人和专业人士在利益冲突和其他问题上都负有持续的义务。\n\n如果本案中有任何一方因某种原因认为该受托人存在问题，他们要么必须在周五的听证会上提出，和/或依据破产法典的相关条款和规则随后提交动议。\n\n因此我认为，一旦来自美国联邦受托人办公室的指定程序完成，就没有必要拖延此事。\n\n有人希望就该问题发表意见吗？\n（无出声回应。）\n法庭：好的。那我——Claiborn 律师，我会要求法庭书记员做的是，一旦有人看到——如果明天提交了文件，\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\n就尽快通知我，那么如果看到了，我们就会安排在周五就此举行听证会。我还不知道具体时间，因为显然您明天可能需要部分时间来完成您的流程。如果直到周五才完成，那么周一的任何听证会也将是远程进行的。但听证会就会在那个时候举行。我的意思是，我们不能——从法庭的角度来看，时间的流逝是没有益处的。我不知道其他人怎么想，但我们需要受托人尽快就位并开始履职。今天下午还有其他人希望就任何问题发表意见吗？\n（无出声回应。）\n法庭：我要指出的一点是，我认为今天是提交针对此前听证会（我认为包括5月25日的听证会）勘误表修改意见的最后一天。所以如果任何人有任何修改，如果今天没有提交，那么我将签署一项裁定。Friedman 先生，可能因为是您订购的官方记录件，我认为——我需要回头去查实一下——由您的律所将勘误表沟通并交付给速记员，以便对记录件进行更正。\n\nFiore Reporting and Transcription Service, Inc.\n\nFRIEDMAN 先生：好的，法官阁下。\n法庭：好的。好的。那么我们——感谢您通报最新情况。请讲。\nFRIEDMAN 先生：我认为我们将——\n法庭：请讲，Friedman 律师。\nFRIEDMAN 先生：法官阁下，我是 Pete Friedman。我认为我们今天下午会提交一份简短的勘误表。\n法庭：好的。好的。谢谢。\nFRIEDMAN 先生：谢谢您，法官阁下。\n法庭：那我们就看看明天白天会发生什么。如果明天提交了文件，我们将在周五举行听证会。如果直到周五才提交文件，我们将在周一举行听证会。如果在现在到周五之间没有提交任何文件，那么我们可能仍会在周一举行听证会，因为我们需要让法庭的命令产生其预期的影响和效力。既然没有其他人要发言，如果安排了听证会——我现在正在看向法庭书记员——我们会把关于听证会的信息指明并提供给所有代理律师吗？\n法庭书记员：是的。\n法庭：好的。好的。因为这将是远程的，我们会向各位提供所有这些信息。可以吗？\n\n好的。那么我认为今天关于郭文贵案的听证会到此结束。我们今天没有其他听证会了，休庭。\n全体代理律师：谢谢您，法官阁下。\n（诉讼程序于下午3:18结束。）\n我，CHRISTINE FIORE，法庭认可的转录员兼认证电子速记员和转录员，特此证明上述内容是上述案件诉讼程序的官方电子录音的正确记录件。\n14 2022年7月13日\n15 Christine Fiore, CERT Transcriber（认证转录员）","key_entities":["Kwok","Je","Ho Wan Kwok"],"ecf_references":[],"word_count":1791,"status":"published","published_at":"2022-07-13 00:00:00","created_at":"2022-07-13","updated_at":"2026-08-23 12:57:25"}