--- type: court_doc id: "court_ctb_2504_0" court: "CTB" case_no: "22-50073" doc_number: 2504 doc_type: "TRANSCRIPT" filed_date: "2024-01-15" lang: "zh" url: "https://mubeitech.com/court/court_ctb_2504_0" json_url: "https://mubeitech.com/api/court/court_ctb_2504_0" --- # 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTIC > 原始法庭文件为英文；下方为英文全文，顶部为中文摘要。 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT BRIDGEPORT DIVISION IN RE: . Chapter 11 . Case No. 22-50073 (JAM) HO WAN KWOK AND GENEVER . HOLDINGS CORPORATION AND . GENEVER HOLDINGS, LLC, . Brien McMahon Federal Building . 915 Lafayette Boulevard . Bridgeport, Connecticut 06604 Debtor. . . Wednesday, January 10, 2024 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:01 p.m. TRANSCRIPT OF HEARING BEFORE THE HONORABLE JULIE A. MANNING UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE APPEARANCES: For the Chapter 11 Trustee: Patrick R. Linsey, Esquire NEUBERT PEPE & MONTEITH, P.C. 195 Church Street 13th Floor New Haven, Connecticut 06510 -and- Luc A. Despins, Esquire PAUL HASTINGS, LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, New York 10166 (APPEARANCES CONTINUED) Audio Operator: Electronically recorded Transcription Company: Reliable The Nemours Building 1007 N. Orange Street, Suite 110 Wilmington, Delaware 19801 Telephone: (302)654-8080 Email: gmatthews@reliable-co.com Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording, transcript produced by transcription service. Case 22-50073 Doc 2504 Filed 01/15/24 Entered 01/15/24 10:58:16 Page 1 of 16 Case 22-50073 Doc 2504 Filed 01/15/24 Entered 01/15/24 10:58:16 Page 2 of 16 | | | 2 | |----------|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1 | APPEARANCES (CONTINUED): | | | 2 | For Pacific Alliance | | | 3 | Asia Opportunity
Fund L.P.: | Annecca H. Smith, Esquire | | 4 | | ROBINSON & COLE, LLP
280 Trumbull Street | | 5 | | Hartford, Connecticut 06103 | | 6 | | -and- | | 7 | | Stuart M. Sarnoff, Esquire
Mia N. Gonzalez, Esquire
O'MELVENY & MYERS, LLP | | 8 | | Times Square Tower
7 Times Square | | 9 | | New York, New York 10036 | | 10 | For the Official
Committee of Unsecured | | | 11 | Creditors: | Kristin B. Mayhew, Esquire
PULLMAN & COMLEY, LLC | | 12
13 | | 850 Main Street
8th Floor
Bridgeport, Connecticut 06601 | | | | | | 14 | For G Club
International: | Jeffrey M. Sklarz, Esquire
GREEN & SKLARZ, LLC | | 15
16 | | One Audubon Street
3rd Floor | | 17 | | New Haven, Connecticut 06511 | | 18 | For the U.S. Trustee: | Holley, L. Claiborn, Esquire | | 19 | | OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRUSTEE
Robert N. Giaimo Federal Building | | 20 | | 150 Court Street
Room 302 | | 21 | | New Haven, Connecticut 06510 | | 22 | | | | 23 | | | | 24 | | | | 25 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Case 22-50073 | | Doc 2504 | Filed 01/15/24 | Entered 01/15/24 10:58:16 | Page 3 of 16 | |---------------|----------------------------------------------|----------|--------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------| | | | | | | 3 | | 1 | | | | INDEX | | | 2 | MOTIONS: | | | | PAGE | | 3 | Matter | | | | | | 4 | No. 2496:
Order Setting Status Conference | 4 | | | | | 5 | | | | | | | 6 | | | Transcriptionist's Certificate | | 16 | | 7 | | | | | | | 8 | | | | | | | 9 | | | | | | | 10 | | | | | | | 11 | | | | | | | 12 | | | | | | | 13 | | | | | | | 14 | | | | | | | 15 | | | | | | | 16 | | | | | | | 17 | | | | | | | 18 | | | | | | | 19 | | | | | | | 20 | | | | | | | 21 | | | | | | | 22 | | | | | | | 23 | | | | | | | 24 | | | | | | | 25 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Case 22-50073
Doc 2504
Filed 01/15/24
Entered 01/15/24 10:58:16
Page 4 of 16 | |----|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | 4 | | 1 | (Proceedings commenced at 3:01 p.m.) | | | | | 2 | THE CLERK:
The United States Bankruptcy Court for | | 3 | the District of Connecticut is now in session.
The Honorable | | 4 | Julie Manning is presiding. | | 5 | We are on Case Number 22-50073, Ho Wan Kwok. | | 6 | THE COURT:
Okay.
Good afternoon. | | 7 | This is Judge Manning.
I'm not in a place where I | | 8 | can be on a video, but you all needed to have this conference | | 9 | this afternoon, so I've made myself available only, | | 10 | unfortunately, by audio.
So I'll have to ask you all to | | 11 | state your name for the record and then I'll ask Trustee | | 12 | Despins, who's called the -- who's requested the conference, | | 13 | to let me know what he -- I have an idea, I think, of what | | 14 | you want it talk about, but I'd like you to make a record | | 15 | about that. | | 16 | So if we could start with appearances, please, | | 17 | with Trustee Despins, and then everyone else, please note | | 18 | your appearance for the record. | | 19 | MR. DESPINS:
Good afternoon, Your Honor, and | | 20 | thank you for seeing us on such short notice.
Luc Despins, | | 21 | Chapter 11 trustee. | | 22 | MR. LINSEY:
Good afternoon, Your Honor.
Patrick | | 23 | Linsey, counsel for the trustee. | | 24 | MS. CLAIBORN:
Good afternoon, Your Honor.
Holley | | 25 | Claiborn for the U.S. Trustee. | | | | | | | 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. SARNOFF: Good afternoon, Your Honor. It's Stuart Sarnoff and Mia Gonzalez from O'Melveny, on behalf of PAX, and with us, I believe, is our local counsel, Annecca Smith. MS. MAYHEW: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Kristin Mayhew, Pullman & Conway, on behalf of the creditors committee. MR. SKLARZ: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Jeffrey Sklarz of Green & Sklarz, for G Club International. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. Has everyone noted their appearances for the record, then? MR. DESPINS: I believe so, Your Honor. This is Luc Despins. THE COURT: Okay. Trustee Despins, please go right ahead. MR. DESPINS: Okay. And, again, thank you for seeing us on such short notice. And my apologies that it's something we probably could have covered at the hearing and not gone until 6 o'clock yesterday, but let me try to describe the points, just mention them and then I'll go into them in detail. The first one relates to the privilege motion, the waiver of the privilege motion. The second one is tolling agreements. The third one is the issue of tolling agreements Case 22-50073 Doc 2504 Filed 01/15/24 Entered 01/15/24 10:58:16 Page 5 of 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 to be signed by parties to potential fraudulent transfer actions. The next one is the Axos, or the entry of an order directing Axos to transfer money to the trustee. And the last one is the scheduling of the, or the rescheduling of the Bombardier aircraft adversary proceeding summary judgment that Mr. Linsey is handling. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 So let me start from the top. The first one, as you know, Your Honor, as part of the Bombardier adversary proceeding, there was a motion filed to either file privileged information under seal or have an order to waive the privilege in a limited way that was proposed by the debtor. And you may have seen that we filed with the Court a copy of the superseding indictment filed in the criminal case, as well as a motion, a renewed motion by Mr. Kwok to stay the Chapter 11 case. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 And one of the arguments made in that motion is that they will be or there's an impending possibility of a waiver of the privilege, which could be damaging to Mr. Kwok. So the reason I'm raising that, Your Honor, is to say that you may have seen in our summary judgment paper we made no reference to the privileged information, no reference or no use of the privileged information, and we're -- so, therefore, we're relying on the summary judgment papers without that information. And, therefore, as we said in the filing we made with the Court where we advised the Court of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the renewed motion for stay of the Chapter 11 case, we said that the trustee did not expect the Court to rule on the privilege motion until later, only if, by the way, the motion for summary judgment was not granted. Obviously, we filed a motion for summary judgment because we think it's going to be granted -- that's not before the Court -- but the point here is there's no expectation of any ruling on the privilege motion for quite a while. So we want to make sure that you had seen that. THE COURT: Okay. So let me just ask you a question about that. I appreciate that. So you're saying that in the Bombardier adversary proceeding, you're asking the Court to rule on summary judgment on a submission that doesn't include any privileged information or information that Mr. Kwok would assert could be a waiver of his privilege and that that pending motion regarding those issues, I can address at some time in the future? MR. DESPINS: That's correct. And I would say not the imminent future because, as I said, and I don't want to be overly aggressive of it, so we think the motion for summary judgment should be granted. If it's denied, then an eventual trial, which would not take place for several months and, therefore, we don't believe that the Court needs to consider that motion or rule on it at | 1 | | this time. | |---|--|------------| |---|--|------------| 25 | 2 | THE COURT:
Okay.
I understand, thank you. | |----|----------------------------------------------------------------| | 3 | MR. DESPINS:
So the next matter, Your Honor, is | | 4 | the filing of -- and this is, like, again, I use the analogy | | 5 | of Russian dolls -- the filing of a motion for an order | | 6 | establishing the form and manner of notice of a motion, which | | 7 | has not been filed yet, but will be filed soon, a motion for | | 8 | an order tolling the Section 546 statute of limitations.
So | | 9 | I wanted to make sure that, one, that was on your radar | | 10 | screen, because we've been filing a lot of motions and papers | | 11 | recently and the timing of that motion, meaning the motion to | | 12 | approve the form of notice, the time we're seeking is | | 13 | relatively short in the sense that we're seeking a hearing | | 14 | before Your Honor next Tuesday the 16th, with an objection | | 15 | deadline of Monday the 15th.
And, you know, again, because | | 16 | it's moving so fast, I wanted to make sure that Your Honor | | 17 | was aware -- well, I'm sure you're aware -- but Your Honor | | 18 | knew of the short schedule we're requesting here. | | 19 | And to be clear, this is not the tolling motion; | | 20 | this is only the Court considering the form of notice that | | 21 | should be given to potential defendants to tell them, there | | 22 | will be a hearing -- by the way, the hearing we're seeking is | | 23 | on February 13th -- a hearing to determine whether the | | 24 | statute should be equitably tolled. | I want the Court to know that we're not, you know, 1 2 3 4 5 6 going to rest on our laurels; meaning, we're not filing this motion and say, Okay, we don't need to do anything. The trustee team, you know, led by Mr. Linsey's firm, will be filing numerous avoidance actions before the 15th. That's the game plan. So there will be an extensive effort made to file as many as we can. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 But sitting here today, I can almost guarantee that we will not know of either the identity of some defendants or of the full amount of claims. So, for example, we know that there were millions of dollars that were transferred to family members, but I am relatively sure, based on what we know, that we don't know the full extent of that. 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 So we will file complaints against the family members and others, but we will not know the full extent and, therefore, we need a -- we're seeking the Court entering an order tolling the Section 546 statute of limitations. So that's the background. We're not arguing the merits of that; we just wanted to make sure this was on your radar screen, because you have a very busy calendar and, here, we're seeking a very short turnaround on that notice motion, not the main motion itself. 23 24 THE COURT: And that notice motion was filed yesterday? MR. DESPINS: Yes, Your Honor. 25 | 1 | THE COURT:
Okay.
I haven't looked at it yet, but | |----|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 2 | I understand what you're saying and I understood from a | | 3 | brief, very brief look at the motion's title, anyway, that | | 4 | you were -- the hearing that you're seeking next week is just | | 5 | on the process, not the substance, correct? | | 6 | MR. DESPINS:
Correct. | | 7 | THE COURT:
So I would assume, after I look at | | 8 | what you're talking about -- after I look at the motion, it | | 9 | was a motion to expedite the hearing on the motion to | | 10 | establish a notice procedure, I believe, correct? | | 11 | MR. DESPINS:
Correct, exactly. | | 12 | THE COURT:
So, I assume that will be granted and | | 13 | there'll be a hearing scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon | | 14 | with an objection deadline of Monday, understanding that the | | 15 | Court is closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday, | | 16 | but, obviously, electronic filing is available.
So, you | | 17 | know, that's all I can say about that.
That's how it'll have | | 18 | to work, I suppose. | | 19 | MR. DESPINS:
Understood, Your Honor.
Thank you. | | 20 | THE COURT:
Okay. | | 21 | MR. DESPINS:
The next matter is tolling | | 22 | agreements.
As you can imagine, we've been in discussions | | 23 | with people that are potential defendants and we are asking | | 24 | them to sign tolling agreements, which, obviously, is the | | 25 | best approach we can get those. | 1 2 3 4 5 6 Some potential defendants have expressed concerns. By the way, these agreements would be in the form of a Courtapproved stipulation signed by the Court, if Your Honor finds that appropriate. But some of the potential defendants have expressed concern over the fact that it would be a public filing, basically listing them as potential defendants. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 And the question we have is whether the Court would be receptive to filing -- you know, there will be an omnibus motion to approve a series of tolling agreements and whether we could redact the names of the potential defendants because it's going to be relevant to the public who is agreeing to toll the statute of limitations. Obviously, the parties, which are the creditors committee, the U.S. Trustee would have total access to that, but, obviously, it helps us getting those stipulations if there's no public disclosure of the identity of these parties. So -- 17 18 19 20 THE COURT: I think that doesn't seem to be a problem from my perspective, but I think you'd still have to, along with your motion, you know, seek the redactions in a motion, you know -- MR. DESPINS: Yes. 22 23 THE COURT: -- that everyone is on notice that you're redacting names. 24 MR. DESPINS: Okay. 21 25 THE COURT: Then, if they have an objection to it, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 they'll file an objection and we'll address it. MR. DESPINS: Okay. Thank you, Your Honor. The next matter is Attorney Linsey filed a motion to enforce a prior order of the Court. That's the order finding that Golden Spring is the alter ego and is equitably owned by the debtor and, therefore, you know, by the trustee, at this point, and that's in section with a bank called Axos. Axos holds one million five or one million six -- I forget the exact amount -- of Golden Spring's money and they're happy to turn it over as long as there's a court order. So we just wanted to make sure that Your Honor was aware this is consensual, meaning they're not opposing that. This would be an incoming fund to the estate so I wanted to make sure that Your Honor was aware of that. THE COURT: I am aware of that. MR. DESPINS: Okay. And -- THE COURT: I haven't had the time to act on it, but I am aware of that and I'm sure we will be able to do that by close of business tomorrow. MR. DESPINS: And the last matter -- thank you, Your Honor -- the last matter, Your Honor, I'll ask Mr. Linsey to address, which is a change in the summary judgment hearing date, or propose to request a change on the hearing date to the summary judgment of the Bombardier adversary proceeding. So I'll turn it over to Mr. Linsey. 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. LINSEY: Thank you, Your Honor. Your Honor had previously entered an order when we briefly adjourned the summary judgment motion filing deadline, scheduling the summary judgment -- setting an objection deadline of the 18th and scheduling a hearing for the 30th. I should mention, I did speak with counsel for Mei Guo and they are aware that I'm discussing this with the Court and I have their consent to do so. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. MR. LINSEY: I am traveling out of town on a family matter on the 30th and counsel for Mei Guo has consented, if the Court is agreeable, to rescheduling the hearing the following week during the 5th, 6th, or 7th of February. THE COURT: I can't do the -- I don't know that that's going to work. We might have to go to the following week and I'll tell you why. We've got -- well, we have scheduling issues that week, number one. Number two, the afternoon of the 6th is going to be the Chapter 13 calendar so we might have to go to the 13th, but I'll look at it. But what you're asking me, with the consent of whom, of Zeisler & Zeisler and the Vartan firm, are they all on consent with this? Case 22-50073 Doc 2504 Filed 01/15/24 Entered 01/15/24 10:58:16 Page 13 of 16 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. LINSEY: I spoke with James Moriarty, who said that he -- THE COURT: Okay. MR. LINSEY: -- was passing along consent as counsel for Mei Guo. THE COURT: Okay. So you've consented to reschedule it to the week of February 5th, if possible, and I don't know that that's possible. It may have to go to the next week. But what about the objection deadline, is that getting extended out, as well? MR. LINSEY: Good question. That's where I was going. So the terms of the agreement included moving the objection deadline so that it stays 12 days in advance of the hearing date. THE COURT: Okay. MR. LINSEY: So I will -- this week, my office will file a consent motion for the adjournment of that hearing that includes the fine-tuned details about the briefing schedule for the Court's consideration. THE COURT: Well, I suppose in order for you to do that, you need a date and time, though, for the hearing. MR. LINSEY: It would be most helpful if we had that in advance and then I could just -- Case 22-50073 Doc 2504 Filed 01/15/24 Entered 01/15/24 10:58:16 Page 14 of 16 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE COURT: Okay. MR. LINSEY: -- have everything pre-done. THE COURT: Well, hopefully, you'll have that by close of business tomorrow. MR. LINSEY: Thank you, Your Honor. THE COURT: Okay. MR. DESPINS: And, Your Honor, that completes it. We said 15 minutes. It ended up being 17 minutes, but I'll take it. So, we really appreciate it. I understand the Court is not always at our disposal, but this time, it made sense to cover these points if we could, so I appreciate that very much. And that completes it, from our perspective, what we wanted to cover today. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you all. I appreciate that. Does anyone else wish to be heard? (No verbal response) THE COURT: Okay. Thank you, then. This status conference is concluded and court is adjourned. Thank you. COUNSEL: Thank you, Your Honor. THE CLERK: Court is adjourned. (Proceedings concluded at 3:17 p.m.) Case 22-50073 Doc 2504 Filed 01/15/24 Entered 01/15/24 10:58:16 Page 15 of 16 | Case 22-50073 | | Doc 2504 | Filed 01/15/24 | Entered 01/15/24 10:58:16 | Page 16 of 16 | |---------------|------------------------------------------------------------|--------------|------------------------|---------------------------|------------------| | | | | | | 16 | | 1 | CERTIFICATION | | | | | | 2 | I certify that the foregoing is a correct | | | | | | 3 | transcript from the electronic sound recording of the | | | | | | 4 | proceedings in the above-entitled matter to the best of my | | | | | | 5 | knowledge and ability. | | | | | | 6 | | | | | | | 7 | | | /s/ William J. Garling | | January 12, 2024 | | 8 | William J. Garling, CET-543 | | | | | | 9 | Certified Court Transcriptionist | | | | | | 10 | | For Reliable | | | | | 11 | | | | | | | 12 | | | | | | | 13 | | | | | | | 14 | | | | | | | 15 | | | | | | | 16 | | | | | | | 17 | | | | | | | 18 | | | | | | | 19 | | | | | | | 20 | | | | | | | 21 | | | | | | | 22
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