Guo Wengui / Miles Guo — bankruptcy case · ORDER · ECF #1194

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT BRIDGEPORT DIVISION In Re \* Case No. 22-50073 (JAM) \* HO WAN KWOK and GENEVER \* HOLDINGS CORPORATION, \* \* Debtor. \* GENEVER HOLDINGS, LLC, \* Case No. 22-50592 (JAM) \* Debtor. \* Bridgeport, Connecticut \* November 16, 2022 \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* \* TRANSCRIPT OF MOTION FOR JOINT ADMINISTRATION WITH 22-50073; MOTION FOR ORDER (I) SETTING BAR DATES FOR FILING PROOFS OF CLAIM; (ii) APPROVING FORM OF NOTICE OF BAR DATES and (iii) GRANTING RELATED RELIEF; MOTION OF CHAPTER 11 TRUSTEE FOR ENTRY OF ORDER HOLDING DEBTOR IN CIVIL CONTEMPT FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH CORPORATE GOVERNANCE RIGHTS; APPLICATION TO EMPLOY NEUBERT, PEPE & MONTEITH and MOTION FOR JOINT ADMINISTRATION WITH 22-50592 BEFORE THE HONORABLE JULIE A. MANNING UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY JUDGE APPEARANCES: For the Debtor: ERIC A. HENZY, ESQ. Zeisler & Zeisler, P.C. 10 Middle Street, 15th Floor Bridgeport, CT 06604 For the Creditor, Pacific ANNECCA SMITH, ESQ. Alliance Asia Opportunity Robinson & Cole Fund L.P.: 28 Trumbull Street Hartford, CT 06103 STUART SARNOFF, ESQ. O'Melveny & Myers LLP Times Square Tower 7 Times Square New York, NY 10036 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

APPEARANCES: (Cont'd.) For the Chapter 11 PATRICK R. LINSEY, ESQ. Trustee and Genever, DOUGLAS SKALKA, ESQ. BVI and Genever U.S.: Neubert Pepe & Monteith, PC 195 Church Street New Haven, CT 06510 For the Chapter 11 Trustee: NICHOLAS A. BASSETT, ESQ. DOUGLAS BARRON, ESQ. WILL CLARK FARMER, ESQ. G. ALEXANDER BONGARTZ, ESQ. Paul Hastings LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166 Chapter 11 Trustee: LUC A. DESPINS, ESQ. Paul Hastings LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166 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 Creditors Committee: JONATHAN KAPLAN, ESQ. Pullman & Comley 850 Main Street Bridgeport, CT 06601 For Logan Cheng, Creditor: JAY MARSHALL WOLMAN, ESQ. Randazza Legal Group, PLLC 100 Pearl Street Hartford, CT 06103 For Melanie Siganowsky: MICHAEL PANTZER, ESQ. Otterbourg, P.C. 230 Park Avenue New York, NY 10169 Case 22-50073 Doc 1194 Filed 12/03/22 Entered 12/03/22 11:28:59 Page 3 of 67

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 3 (Proceedings commenced at 1:04 p.m.) THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Case no. 22-50592, Genever Holdings LLC and case no. 22-50073, Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corporation. THE COURT: Good afternoon. If we could have appearances for the record, starting with the Chapter 11 Trustee, please? MR. DESPINS: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Luc Despins, Chapter 11 Trustee. THE COURT: Good afternoon. MR. BASSETT: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Nick Bassett from Paul Hastings on behalf of the Chapter 11 Trustee. THE COURT: Good afternoon. MR. SARNOFF: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Stuart Sarnoff, O'Melveny & Myers, on behalf of creditor, Pacific Alliance, or PAX. MR. LINSEY: Your Honor, I just -- quickly, Your Honor. Patrick Linsey for the Chapter 11 Trustee. Also with me is Doug Skalka, and we're also appearing on behalf of Genever BVI and Genever U.S. THE COURT: Good afternoon. MS. SMITH: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Annecca Smith of Robinson and Cole, also here on behalf of creditor, Pacific Alliance.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 THE COURT: Good afternoon. Attorney Claiborn? 2 MS. CLAIBORN: Good afternoon, Your Honor.

3 Claiborn for the U.S. Trustee. 4 THE COURT: Good afternoon. 5 MR. KAPLAN:

6 Committee of Unsecured Creditors. 7 THE COURT: Good afternoon. 8 MR. WOLMAN: Good afternoon, Your Honor.

9 Wolman for creditor, Logan Cheng. 10 THE COURT: Good afternoon.

11 Henzy. I'm sorry.

12 about to speak. 13 MR. HENZY:

14 Eric Henzy, of Zeisler & Zeisler, for the debtor, Ho Wan 15 Kwok. 16 THE COURT: Good afternoon. 17 MR. HENZY: Good afternoon, Your Honor. 18 THE INTERPRETER: Good afternoon, Your Honor.

19 the Mandarin interpreter. 20 THE COURT: Oh, good afternoon.

21 state your name for the record, please? 22 THE INTERPRETER: Yes. My name is Shi Seng. 23 THE COURT:

24 well, please? 25 THE INTERPRETER: Of course. First name S-H-I.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 5 Last name S-E-N-G. THE COURT: Thank you. And I see other people that are on the line that have not noticed -- have not stated their appearance. Mr. Barron. MR. BARRON: Your Honor, thank you. My name is Douglas Barron and I'm with Paul Hastings representing the Chapter 11 Trustee. Thank you so much. THE COURT: Good afternoon. Mr. Pantzer? MR. PANTZER: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Michael Pantzer with the law firm of Otterbourg P.C. I'm appearing on behalf of Melanie Siganowsky as the sales officer of Genever USA. I apologize that Ms. Siganowsky had a conflict this afternoon and is not able to attend. I'm here if you just have any questions for her, or if you'd like her to appear at future hearings. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. And I think you just need to -- Mr. Pantzer, do you -- are you admitted in the District of Connecticut so that you can file a notice of appearance? MR. PANTZER: No, I'm not. Otterbourg is not retained by the estate. Melanie was appointed sales officer pursuant to a settlement agreement. Otterbourg has been assisting her with the sales process, but I am not admitted in Connecticut. THE COURT: Okay. Well, then I'm just going to

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 let you listen today, then, I think. Okay? 2 MR. PANTZER: Yes. 3 THE COURT:

4 questions of you today. Thank you. 5 MR. PANTZER: Thank you, Your Honor. 6 THE INTERPRETER:

7 interpreter speaking. May I ask how you wish us to proceed? 8 For Zoom, I can only do this consecutively. 9 THE COURT:

10 proceeding yet, so I will ask you to hold that thought until 11 we see what's happening with the Chapter 11 Trustee on how 12 he proposes to proceed. Okay?

13 THE INTERPRETER: Okay. That's okay. 14 THE COURT: -- I don't -- thank you very much. 15 THE INTERPRETER:

16 stand by and remain silent. 17 THE COURT: Thank you so much. 18 MR. DESPINS:

19 time, I -- with me -- prior arrangements that have been 20 made, but Mr. Bassett, I'm sorry to put you on the spot, but 21 do we need the Mandarin interpreter at this time? 22 MR. BASSETT:

23 the Mandarin interpreter today. Mr. Despins will -- and Mr. 24 Henzy, I imagine, will explain to Your Honor why in a few 25 moments, but I -- we originally had the Mandarin interpreter

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 lined up for today to interpret witness testimony. 2 That is no longer anticipated to happen today, but 3 this is all late breaking developments, so we weren't able 4 to relay all that information to the interpreter prior to 5 her appearing at the hearing this afternoon.

6 unless somebody disagrees with me, I think she could be 7 excused. 8 MR. HENZY: Your Honor, I apologize, Your Honor. 9 THE COURT: No, you go ahead, Attorney Henzy. 10 MR. HENZY: I agree with Mr. Bassett, Your Honor. 11 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you.

12 tomorrow's purposes? 13 Now, again, I know that Trustee Despins, and 14 Attorney Bassett, Attorney Henzy, you're going to explain 15 some things to me, I assume, in connection with a pleading 16 that was filed last night at 10:45 or something about that 17 time. But I want to make sure, are we anticipating that we 18 would need the mandarin interpreter for tomorrow, because I 19 would like her to know for sure whether she needs to be 20 available tomorrow. 21 MR. DESPINS: Your Honor, Luc Despins, Trsutee. 22 It would be presumptuous of me to address that or -- because 23 it really depends on how things go today, so -- 24 THE COURT: Okay. 25 MR. DESPINS:

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 8 we don't -- we don't know, because that assumes that Your Honor would do certain things that you probably don't know anything about at this point, so -- THE COURT: Okay. I think that's fair. Then -- I'm sorry, Attorney Henzy. Go ahead. MR. HENZY: And, Your Honor for the record, believe it or not, I agree with Mr. Despins on what he just said. THE COURT: Okay. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. So then, I would just ask the Mandarin interpreter, you can be excused for this afternoon. You might need to be available tomorrow, and maybe your cat will join you. But in any event -- THE INTERPRETER: So sorry. I'm so sorry. THE COURT: No, that's okay. We're all working remotely today, so those things happen. THE INTERPRETER: Your Honor, I am so sorry, but I will make myself available tomorrow (indiscernible) just in case. If you don't need me tomorrow, you can just message me again like today. Okay? THE COURT: Okay. Great. THE INTERPRETER: Thank you. THE COURT: If there's some decision made before tomorrow morning at 10:00, Mr. Bassett or someone will reach out to you to let you know. Okay?

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 9 THE INTERPRETER: Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you. THE COURT: All right. You too. Thank you. THE INTERPRETER: Goodbye. THE COURT: All right. Now, I think the only other people whose appearances we haven't noted are Mr. Farmer. MR. FARMER: Yes, Your Honor. I'm just listening today. Paul Hastings LLP on behalf of the trustee. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. And, Mr. Bongartz, is that the same for you? MR. BONGARTZ: Yes. I will be presenting a few exhibits in connection with the bar date motions as well as with respect to the status conference. So I will request at the appropriate time to be able to share my screen. THE COURT: Okay. MR. BONGARTZ: But just for the record, Alex Bongartz, of Paul Hastings, on behalf of the Chapter 11 Trustee. Thank you. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. I just wanted to make sure that our record is clear and accurate for everyone that's participating in the hearing today, so thank you. All right. As we all know, there are many matters on the calendar today. I don't know, Trustee Despins, if

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 you'd like to take up the joint administration motion first, or if you want to talk about the order that was submitted last night. I saw the proposed agenda, but with everything that's gone on, I don't know if anything's changed.

I'll let you proceed in the manner in which you think is appropriate. MR. DESPINS: Yes, Your Honor.

fact, things moved quite -- in different ways that we didn't anticipate. So I need to address one very important issue at the outset, and I ask that Mr. Barron be allowed to share the screen. I don't know who controls that. THE COURT: We can give control to Mr. Barron. MR. DESPINS: Yeah. THE COURT:

moment, he will then have control and he can share his screen. MR. BARRON: Thank you, Your Honor. MR. DESPINS:

is going on in the background. But, Your Honor, as you know, we filed a contempt motion and took the deposition of the debtor on Friday.

immediately after that, the debtor began posting false, disparaging and inflammatory comments on social media about individual lawyers of Paul Hastings and Paul Hastings, and

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 Pacific and at the deposition we took, accusing of us being 2 linked to the Communist Party, and I want to show that clip, 3 Your Honor, because that's just the beginning. 4 If you'll just indulge me, this will take no 5 longer than seven or eight minutes, not that the 6 (indiscernible) important to listen to this, -- well, to see 7 what's said in translation at the bottom of the screen. 8 Go ahead, Mr. Barron. 9 MR. BARRON: Thank you. 10 (Thereupon, the audio recording was played for the

12 MR. HENZY: Your Honor, can I -- can I interrupt? 13 Can I interrupt for a moment, Your Honor? 14 THE COURT: Hold on just a second.

15 stop this for one second? Attorney Henzy, go ahead. 16 MR. HENZY:

17 purpose of this is. There's nothing before the Court.

18 is being -- I don't disbelieve, Mr. Despins, that there were 19 postings. Obviously, we can all see this.

20 there's nothing before the Court on this. 21 If Mr. Despins wants to bring a motion to, I'm not 22 sure what, sanction Mr. Kwok for making public statements or 23 anything else, he can do that, but I don't think this is -- 24 as far as I know, this is not relevant to any matter that's 25 before the Court today.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 MR. DESPINS: And let me address that, Your Honor. 2 This was just a lead in.

3 right after that, is that there was a call for his followers 4 to protest at our individual houses, listing my house 5 address, my personal address, my ex-wife's personal address, 6 the personal address of the CEO or Chairman of PAX, with the 7 clear intention of intimidating a court officer. 8 And that's why I think this is really serious and 9 I believe the Court should give us latitude so you have the 10 full picture of what happened here.

11 continue with the presentation, Your Honor. 12 MR. HENZY:

13 anything that Mr. Despins says, and to the extent this 14 happened, I do not defend it. 15 But again, I'll just say, I understand Mr. 16 Despins's concern, but I still say that there is nothing 17 before the Court today, as far as I know. 18 I don't know if Mr. Despins is going to ask for 19 some relief at the end of this presentation, and maybe -- 20 maybe this -- it would be easier if Mr. Despins would tell 21 the Court, and so that I would know, is he going to ask for 22 some relief where viewing these materials would be relevant? 23 MR. DESPINS: Well, it's very easy.

24 either the U.S. Trustee is permitted to show, or the Court 25 on it's own, sua sponte, may decide to refer these matters

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 13 to the appropriate person, and I think that the Court is entitled to know of these things. The disparagement on the internet, we've had that for months so, you know, I have a thick skin and not that worried about that, except when it goes into the personal individual layers. But to post a trustee's home address on the internet, asking people to go and picket that house and to do the same thing with Paul Hastings, O'Melveny & Myers and the CEO or Chairman of PAX, is completely beyond the pale, and I think the Court needs to be informed of that, and if the Court chooses to ignore it, that's okay, Bt the U.S. Trustee needs to be informed of that, and if they choose to ignore it, that's okay, but this is certainly -- I understand why Mr. Henzy does not want the Court to see this. It's highly damaging to the debtor, but -- and these are situations in the past, Your Honor, where there has been violence involved. When he has sent people to picket houses, they've attacked people. That's part of the video we're going to show. And therefore, this is not just us being nervous Nellies here. This is a very serious issue. And actually, I have a paralegal that works in our case, asking to be removed from the case because basically saying they're afraid of working on this case.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 So this is a -- from a court point of view and 2 from a U.S. Trustee point of view, I think it's very 3 important that this is heard and it's not going to take that 4 much time, probably ten minutes at most. 5 MR. HENZY: Your Honor, if I could, Your Honor? 6 As I said, I do not disbelieve what Mr. Despins is saying. 7 I do not defend any of this in any way, shape, or form.

8 fact, I condemn it. 9 I was not -- I was told -- I was aware that Mr. 10 Kwok may have posted something.

11 not in any way aware he had posted anything about anyone at 12 Paul Hastings or Mr. Despins. 13 So this is the first I'm hearing of this.

14 not trying to prevent this from being put in front of the 15 Court, or from the U.S. Trustee. 16 I just -- but I'm not sure that this is the 17 appropriate forum.

18 the basis for a criminal referral, I am not a criminal 19 lawyer. I am not Mr. Kwok's -- I do not represent him on 20 any matter outside of this bankruptcy case.

21 criminal lawyer, if that is what Mr. Despins is talking 22 about. 23 I think -- I don't know, frankly, what the 24 appropriate way for this to be presented either to the Court 25 or to the U.S. Trustee if the idea is that it would be a

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 15 basis for a criminal referral. But I am -- I am suggesting that this is not it. So -- and I don't -- and I wouldn't interpret it -- if the Court said, I'm not going to do this right now. I would not interpret that as that the Court is choosing to ignore anything that's happened here, or the U.S. Trustee is choosing to ignore anything that's happened here. I would be in -- the way I would look at it is, this is -- this is not the appropriate time. Or not -- I don't -- when I say forum, I don't mean this Court not being the appropriate forum at some point. Again, I just don't know, but like I said, this is -- this is -- this is not on the calendar. Mr. Kwok is not on notice of this. I don't know anything about this. Other potential counsel of Mr. Kwok doesn't know anything about it. So I, again, I'm not trying to prevent the Court or the U.S. Trustee from seeing this, viewing it, anything like that, at the -- in the appropriate time, in the appropriate manner. MR. DESPINS: Your Honor, time may be of the essence here. If people are getting harmed or potentially harmed, it needs to be dealt with, we believe immediately. And perhaps the solution would be to have Your Honor direct the debtor to appear at the hearing tomorrow to

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 explain what is going on with these matters. 2 But this is way beyond the pale.

3 lawyering. This is -- we're talking about, you know, 4 personal houses being picketed and -- which involved in the 5 past, violence against the people that were being picketed. 6 So we believe that, first of all, it's a tenuous 7 thing and we would -- we would think that a Court would want 8 to see it right away.

9 controls her calendar. 10 MR. HENZY: I have nothing further, Your Honor. 11 THE COURT: Okay.

12 am going to instruct the courtroom deputy to -- aside from 13 Mr. Despins, Mr. Henzy and Attorney Claiborn, and Attorney 14 Barron, I think, who is for lack of a better term, 15 projecting this, Attorney Barron, correct? 16 MR. BASSETT: That's correct, Your Honor. 17 THE COURT:

18 courtroom deputy to place all the other participants in the 19 waiting room, and we're going to have a discussion on the 20 record under seal. 21 I'm going to move that this be placed under seal 22 for the time being, and we will -- so we will take a recess 23 insofar as all the other parties will be placed into the 24 waiting room. 25 Trustee Despins, Attorney Henzy, Attorney

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 Claiborn, and Attorney Barron will remain, and then we will 2 start part of that hearing under seal to address the issues 3 that were just discussed and we will go from there. 4 MR. SARNOFF:

5 and I will abide obviously whatever your order is on this, 6 and perhaps you just made it, so -- but I'd just like point 7 out that Pacific Alliance, its chairman, it's chairman's 8 family, O'Melveny also has been named in this. 9 And so I do think and would ask for the Court to 10 at least consider including us in this as well, because I 11 have to report back to my client, who is currently in the 12 process of trying to secure protection and security for its 13 senior people and, frankly, for our firm itself. 14 So if you want to exclude us, I understand.

15 would just like to say that I think we're somewhat of an 16 interested party in this O'Melveny and Pacific Alliance. 17 THE COURT: I understand.

18 you for the time being, and then we'll see what occurs at 19 this -- after we have this conversation on the record under 20 seal, Attorney Sarnoff. Okay? 21 MR. SARNOFF: Okay. Thank you.

22 Honor. 23 THE COURT: Thank you. 24 MR. HENZY:

25 assume that people on the telephone listening only will be

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 18 excluded. THE COURT: Everyone will be excluded, and our -- we will record what happens completely under seal. Everyone will be excluded. MR. HENZY: Okay. I just didn't know how the room thing worked, so okay. THE COURT: It works -- it actually -- not only can we exclude, we can just -- we will stop, because I'm taking a recess, right? We will stop. Anybody that could possibly be listening on the public access line, and then on the -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Indiscernible.) THE COURT: -- outside of the hearing, that will continue under seal with Trustee Despins, you, Attorney Claiborn, and Attorney Barron. And our recording system of our audio of every hearing has the ability to seal the record immediately and that's what we're going to do. MR. WOLMAN: Your Honor, this is Jay Wolman for Mr. Cheng. I just want to note my objection to sealing it for the record. THE COURT: Thank you. MR. WOLMAN: Under Brown v. Maxwell. THE COURT: Thank you. MR. WOLMAN: (Indiscernible) the elements have been met. Case 22-50073 Doc 1194 Filed 12/03/22 Entered 12/03/22 11:28:59 Page 18 of 67

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. All right.

2 going to give the courtroom deputy a moment to carry out the 3 steps that I've just so ordered on the record. 4 THE COURTROOM DEPUTY:

5 to officially say, take a recess, or -- 6 THE COURT: The Court is taking a recess.

7 public access line will be disconnected for the time being, 8 and all the other parties, other than Trustee Despins, 9 Attorney Henzy, Attorney Claiborn, and Attorney Barron, will 10 be placed in the waiting room until after -- until further 11 order of the Court -- until the Court comes back to the 12 hearing or not. 13 THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Okay. 14 THE COURT: Okay? 15 THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Okay. Thank you.

16 in recess.

18 (Recording from 1:27 p.m. to 1:57 p.m. placed under

20 THE COURTROOM DEPUTY:

21 Court for the District of Connecticut is now in session 22 after recess. The Honorable Julie Manning is presiding. 23 THE COURT: Okay. Good afternoon, again. 24 Trustee Despins, are you intending to proceed with 25 the motion for joint administration and the bar date order

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 20 first, or are we turning to the contempt matter and the orders? MR. DESPINS: I think, Your Honor, we would get rid of the procedural stuff first. So I think either Mr. Skalka or Mr. -- Mr. Skalka is going to handle the joint administration. Also, there was the motion to employ his firm -- THE COURT: Yes. MR. DESPINS: -- is still there, and then I'll do the bar date, and then we'll end up with the contempt part. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you very much. Attorney Skalka, please proceed. MR. SKALKA: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Yes, as Trustee Despins mentioned, I'm presenting both my firm's retention application and Genever Holding Corporation proceeding, as well as the joint -- the motion for joint administration involving all three of the related debtors. If I can, Your Honor, unless you have a preference, if I could speak to the retention application first. THE COURT: Go right ahead. MR. SKALKA: We have filed an application to serve as counsel for Genever Holdings Corporation, which filed its Chapter 11 proceeding on October 11th.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 As noted in the application, we are -- obviously, 2 counsel for Mr. Despins and -- as his local counsel in the 3 Kwok case, we have not received any objections to our 4 retention application.

5 we did not receive a retainer but we are planning to apply 6 for approval of our fees in the ordinary course based on our 7 customary rates, and for all those reasons, Your Honor, we'd 8 ask that our retention application be approved. 9 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 10 Does anyone else wish to be heard on the 11 application to employ Neubert, Pepe and Monteith as counsel 12 in the -- in these cases, in the Genever Holdings 13 Corporation case? 14 MR. HENZY: Your Honor, I just have a question. 15 THE COURT: Sure. 16 MR. HENZY: Eric Henzy for the debtor. 17 The Genever Holdings had bankruptcy counsel in New 18 York, and my question is just what's happening to that firm? 19 Are they now out of the case, or they're going to be two 20 firms, or just what -- you know, kind of what's happening 21 with that because it's not disclosed in the application. 22 MR. HENZY:

23 MR. DESPINS: That application -- sorry.

24 application is before the Court today, Mr. Henzy, in only 25 the BVI debtor, not the U.S. debtor yet.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 22 a later date. MR. SKALKA: Correct. This is the -- All right. Genever Holdings Corporation is the BVI entity, which did not have bankruptcy counsel, which had not filed -- MR. HENZY: Okay. All right. That's my misunderstanding. Okay. Thank you. THE COURT: All right. So this application to employ applies only to the Chapter 11 case filed with regard to Genever Holdings Corporation, which the trustee filed after becoming the trustee, not with regard to the case that's being transferred from New York. MR. HENZY: My fault. THE COURT: No problem. That's fine. MR. HENZY: Thank you. THE COURT: It's better to be clear for the record, so that's not a problem. Attorney Claiborn? MS. CLAIBORN: Your Honor, the U.S. Trustee has no objection to the employment of Neubert Pepe. THE COURT: Okay. And I have looked at the proposed order that was submitted with the application, and I do not see any issues or concerns in the proposed order that was submitted by Neubert Pepe and Monteith. Does anyone else wish to be heard with regard to the proposed order?

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 23 (No audible response) THE COURT: Okay, hearing nothing, then the application to employ Neubert Pepe and Monteith as debtor's counsel, the debtor being Genever Holdings Corporation, is granted. It's ECF Number 1060, and the proposed order submitted with the application can enter. MR. SKALKA: Thank you, Your Honor. THE COURT: Thank you. MR. SKALKA: The second matter that I wanted to present, Your Honor, is our motion for joint administration. This does involve the New York -- the previously filed case in the New York Southern District regarding Genever Holdings LLC. That case was transferred to Your Honor's court by order of Judge Garrity on November 3rd, and the trustee, as well as Genever Holdings Corporation, and now Genever Holdings LLC has moved for joint administration of all three cases. Genever Holdings LLC is the wholly owned subsidiary of Genever Holdings Corporation, which now Mr. Despins is the equity holder of. So for all the reasons we set forth in our motion that these are interrelated debtors or affiliates, it makes sense that the matters be jointly administered. We have proposed that the Kwok case be the lead case for all three cases. We have received no objection to the application and

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 24 would ask that the motion be granted. THE COURT: Does anyone wish to be heard on the motion for joint administration of the matters here in Connecticut and -- that are on -- that are jointly administered under the Kwok main case number and the Genever case that has been transferred from the Southern District of New York to the District of Connecticut? (No audible response.) Okay. I'm looking at your proposed order, and it looks fine. The only thing I noticed in the -- and when we jointly consolidated the cases in Connecticut, there was one provision that wasn't as clear as I thought it was. I think, Attorney Skalka, all I would need you to do is, in the proposed order you say, the caption of the jointly administered case shall read as follows and you have all that there. I think you need to also say, add a paragraph, or add something to the end of paragraph 4 that says, and all pleadings filed in this case shall be filed on the docket of the Ho Wan Kwok case, Case No. 22-50073, because there was some confusion that people had before and I'd just like to try to alleviate that confusion. I'm not saying it necessarily will, but I would like that specific provision to be in the order. Okay? MR. SKALKA: Understood, Your Honor.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 THE COURT: So -- go ahead. 2 MR. SKALKA:

3 or two to that paragraph for -- and submit a revised order 4 that indicates that pleadings should be filed in all three 5 cases. Excuse me.

6 related case. 7 THE COURT:

8 the Kwok case, now that we're jointly administering it.

10 MR. SKALKA: Fine. 11 THE COURT: -- place I want them to be filed. 12 MR. SKALKA: Okay. 13 THE COURT: Okay?

14 MR. SKALKA: Yes. 15 THE COURT:

16 so we don't have to look at more than one docket, right?

17 mean, with regard to proofs of claim, they can be filed in 18 separate cases on the claims register, but with regard to 19 the pleadings, I want them only to be filed in Kwok case 22- 20 50073. Okay? 21 MR. SKALKA: Yes. 22 THE COURT:

23 the order? 24 MR. SKALKA:

25 morning, Your Honor.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 THE COURT: Oh, that's fine. Okay.

2 o, so that the record is clear, with regard to the 3 case of Genever Holdings, LLC, 22-50592, which was a Chapter 4 11 case pending in the Southern District of New York, which 5 has now been transferred to the District of Connecticut, 6 there was a motion for joint administration, ECF No. 229 7 filed in that case. 8 That motion is granted and a revised proposed 9 order will enter, and the companion motion in the Ho Wan 10 Kwok and Genever Holdings Corporation case, 22-5073, ECF No. 11 1070, will also be granted and will be essentially the same 12 revised proposed order.

13 proposed order, will be submitted by counsel on or before 14 November 17th. Okay? 15 MR. SKALKA: Thank you, Your Honor. 16 THE COURT: Thank you.

17 the bar date order? 18 MR. DESPINS: Yes, Your Honor. 19 THE COURT: Please. 20 MR. DESPINS: So, thank you, Your Honor.

21 Despins, Chapter 11 Trustee. 22 We filed a supplemental bar date motion November 23 8, Docket 1072.

24 amended bar date, but then said, you know, we should really 25 wait to see if the New York case gets transferred.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 And that's what we were waiting for, and then the 2 case was transferred.

3 date motion seeks to achieve, which is to have one bar date 4 for all debtors. 5 It's a bit more complicated than that, because 6 there was already a bar date in the Genever U.S. case, none 7 in the Genever BVI case. And so what we're proposing is that 8 there will be a general bar date of January 14th, 2023, for 9 all prepetition claims against the individual debtor, Mr. 10 Kwok, in Genever U.S. or Genever BVI. 11 For governmental claims against Kwok and Genever 12 USA -- U.S., the bar date will be the same, January 13th. 13 Why? Because the cases have been pending for more than 180 14 days and therefore that provision of the statute that says 15 -- actually, it's Bankruptcy Rule 2002(c)(1), that you need 16 to wait 180 days for governmental entities does not apply to 17 those cases, but it does apply to the Genever BVI case, 18 because that's a newly filed case.

19 need to have a governmental bar date of April 10th, 2023. 20 We also are seeking approval of the form of the 21 bar date notice.

22 committee counsel, Mr. Goldman. We made those changes. 23 There's a form of publication notice, et cetera. 24 There are things that I need to address, though, 25 that are different than the standard bar date motion, that

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 is that in the Genever USA case, there was already a bar 2 date. A notice had been given to maybe -- and this may be 3 exaggerated slightly, but 10, 12, 15 people max. 4 And we don't think that's appropriate, so we are 5 reopening the bar date for the Genever -- for the Kwok 6 individual creditor -- creditors to file, if they so desire, 7 a claim against Genever USA, and against Genever BVI. 8 And to make their life easier, we are providing in 9 the proof of claim form that the individual debtor 10 creditors, the creditors in Mr. Kwok's case, can assert an 11 alter ego claim, which we describe briefly in the proof of 12 claim form, by checking a box so that they can assert that 13 claim at the same time that they're asserting a claim 14 against Mr. Kwok. 15 There was one response filed, a formal response 16 filed, Your Honor, at Docket Number 1081, by Logan Cheng.

17 believe counsel is on the phone with us, and we have -- and 18 basically what were saying is that, wait a minute, we've 19 already filed a claim against Mr. Kwok.

20 this twice. Fair point. 21 And also, that concept only applies to 10 -- 15 22 people, so we've decided to make their life easier that any 23 creditor of Mr. Kwok that previously filed a proof of claim 24 against -- in Mr. Kwok's Chapter 11 case in a form 25 substantially similar to official form, shall be deemed to

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 29 have elected to also assert such claim against Genever BVI and Genever USA on an alter ego basis so that they don't have to refile. It's really 15 people, and we can -- if you can share the screen with Mr. Bongartz, we can show you the exact language that we put in to address the Logan Cheng response or rejection. THE COURT: Certainly. MR. DESPINS: We need Your Honor to -- THE COURT: In just one moment. There he is. MR. DESPINS: Yeah. He has it. Okay. Here we go. So that that's the underlying language. Any creditor (indiscernible) that's that language that's been added to the bar date order and the notice. In addition to that -- THE COURT: Okay. MR. DESPINS: -- we received an informal comment by, I think it was the Sherry Netherland, to the effect that notice of commencement of the Genever BVI case generated an automatic bar date of January 9, 2023. And obviously, we're saying that that bar date is not applicable, and the applicable bar date is January 13th, 2023. And we have the footnote that says that, so we've corrected that as well. So in a nutshell, we have a further revised

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 proposed order which we can post online briefly, just to 2 take your -- I think we've taken you through all the 3 changes. So you don't need to post it, really. 4 We need to submit it to the Court because we have 5 not submitted it to the Court yet.

6 further revised order.

7 marked, show changes and clean as well, and we would like to 8 submit that to Your Honor with your permission. 9 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 10 I just want to make sure no one else would like to 11 be heard on the motion to establish the bar date and the 12 procedures regarding the bar date. 13 MR. WOLMAN: Good afternoon, Your Honor.

14 Wolman for Creditor Logan Cheng.

15 I do believe that revision to the proposed order satisfies 16 my concern that I primarily raised. 17 I did raise in my response, that there were some 18 other exhibits, notices, et cetera, that also might need to 19 be revised in parallel form to address the creditors who had 20 previously filed, but I presume that that will happen. 21 MR. DESPINS: Yes, it will, Your Honor.

22 happened. I mean, but we have not circulated that yet, but 23 we are -- we have made the corresponding changes. 24 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. 25 MR. HENZY: Your Honor, I would like to be heard.

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 THE COURT: Yes. Go right ahead. 2 MR. HENZY:

3 bar date for all entities for the individual debtor and for 4 Genever U.S., and no concern with the bar date for all 5 entities other than governmental entities against Genever 6 BVI. 7 The concern that I have is with the April 10 8 proposed bar date for governmental entities with respect to 9 Genever BVI. And I want to be very careful because I do not 10 want to disclose any settlement discussions that have 11 happened. And so I expect if Mr. Despins thinks I've 12 crossed the line, he is going to jump in and tell you that. 13 But trying to be very neutral, the possibility of 14 a government entity having or not having a claim is a 15 significant point in the settlement discussions that have 16 taken place. 17 And I think that it would be very damaging 18 potentially to the process if the bar date for a 19 governmental entity to file a proof of claim against Genever 20 BVI was put out to April 10th. That is a long time.

21 another three months past January 13th. 22 And Mr. Despins cited Rule 3002.

23 2002. I think he meant 3002(c)(1).

24 Chapter 7, Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 cases.

25 applicable rule is 3003(c)(3), and that simply provides the

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 32 court shall fix and for cause shown may extend the time within which to pursue claims or interest may be filed. It then goes on to make, in some respect, 3002(c)(2), (c)(3), (c)(4), and (c)(6) applicable, but not (c)(1). So I don't believe there's any requirement in the rules that a governmental entity get 180 days from the petition date. And the facts and circumstances, I think that any relevant governmental agency has been well aware of Mr. Kwok's case. And again, without disclosing any confidences, I think the claim that we would be concerned about, that government entity -- that Mr. Kwok's case has been pending since February. The Genever U.S. case has been pending even longer. So I don't think there's a notice issue. I don't think that there would be an issue with any governmental entity not understanding what is happening. And in particular, that when you join that with the provision that a proof of claim can be filed against Genever BVI or Genever U.S. as alter egos of -- and I'm not saying that you -- people can do that generally, I suppose, but it's being very much highlighted. I don't represent Genever BVI and I don't represent Genever U.S., so I don't care about claims being

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 33 filed against them, whether -- on an alter ego basis or any other basis. What I do care about, though, is a claim being filed against Genever BVI by a governmental entity, either in a -- as an alter ego claim or otherwise, three months after the general bar date, because my concern is that that is going to impede the progress of these cases. And that -- and potentially, I would argue, in a very, very significant way. So I think that January 13 is sufficient for any governmental entity in the Genever BVI case, and I think under Rule 3003, you can -- you can fix -- you can fix the bar date. THE COURT: Understood. Thank you. Attorney -- Trustee Despins? MR. DESPINS: I don't -- I don't feel strongly about that. I want to make sure that Mr. Henzy is correct, that he's -- he may be. So check (indiscernible). So it's an interesting law school question and we will -- what I would like to do is revert back to this in maybe 20 minutes while we go -- THE COURT: That's fine. That's fine. I mean, my read of the rule is that -- is the same as Attorney Henzy's, that 3002 only applies to 7, 12 and 13 and 3003 applies to 9 and 11. But I think the question more

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 so, at least what I'm hearing from Attorney Henzy is, he's 2 not concerned about -- or he's not raising an issue with 3 regard to the treatment of the claim as any claim filed as 4 having alter ego claims.

5 frame to provide to governmental units that would be, as he 6 stated, almost three months beyond the bar date of January 7 13. 8 And so, I think if you two can talk about that and

10 MR. HENZY: Yes. 11 THE COURT:

12 that being -- at least under Rule 3003(c)(3), I think that 13 in a Chapter 9 and 11 case, it says that, you know, a proof 14 of claim may be filed to the extent -- and under the 15 conditions stated in Rule 3002(c)(2), (c)(3) and (c)(4), but 16 it doesn't say (c)(1) and 3002(c)(1) applies to a 17 governmental proof of claim.

19 MR. HENZY: I understand. 20 THE COURT: -- I have no problem.

21 two come -- if all we're talking about is the date and you 22 can agree to the date, then I have no problem with that. 23 If we're talking about anything substantive, more 24 substantive with regard to this issue about the -- you know, 25 of basically being a claim against -- an alter ego claim

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 35 against the U.S. entity and the BVI entity, that's a different story. But I don't think you're talking about that. I think you're talking about -- MR. DESPINS: And, Your Honor, I'm happy to have an earlier bar date. I just wanted to make sure technically that was correct. My colleague, Mr. Bongartz, is pointing me to Section 502(b)(9), that seems to trump -- that is saying, except for the claim of a governmental unit shall be timely filed. If it is filed before 180 days after the date of the order for relief, or such later date as the federal rules provide. So let's park the issue. This -- THE COURT: That's fine. I think -- MR. DESPINS: I don't want to take -- THE COURT: That's fine. I think you both can talk about it, and then you can -- if you still -- if there's still a controversy, you'll let me know. Otherwise, you'll submit the order with the date that's agreed to. MR. DESPINS: Exactly, Your Honor. Thank you very much. So with your -- well, maybe there are other parties that want to be heard on the bar date. If not, we would move on to the -- I guess the main event, which is the Ace Decade matter. THE COURT: Does anyone else wish to be heard on

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 36 the bar date motion? (No audible response) THE COURT: All right then. With regard to the bar date, I mean, it will be granted for the reasons stated on the record subject to a resolution of the issue of the actual date of the governmental bar date, if that -- I don't know if I just said that properly, but I think I -- MR. DESPINS: Correct. Yes. But solely for the BVI -- so this is what I refer to as plumbing, legal plumbing. So we should be able to agree on that, and we'll try to do that very promptly, Your Honor. THE COURT: Okay. Go right ahead. MR. WOLMAN: Your Honor, when you say it is granted, you mean the -- it being the revised order that's to be submitted. THE COURT: Yes. MR. WOLMAN: That's great. Thank you. THE COURT: Yes. MR. SKALKA: Your Honor, if I could, just on a housekeeping matter? I have another court hearing later this afternoon and Mr. Linsey is here to appear on behalf of Mr. Despins and the other Genever entities. So if I could, can I please be excused for the balance of the -- THE COURT: Yes. MR. SKALKA: -- of the hearing? Case 22-50073 Doc 1194 Filed 12/03/22 Entered 12/03/22 11:28:59 Page 36 of 67

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 THE COURT: Yes, you may. 2 MR. SKALKA: Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you. 3 THE COURT: Thank you. 4 MR. DESPINS: Okay.

5 with Your Honor's permission, to the Ace Decade matter, let 6 me try to key this up for Your Honor.

7 submit something at 11:30 last night, so I really want to 8 take you though that and how we got there. 9 So there are two parts to this, or at least there 10 were several parts to it but the two main parts to the 11 (indiscernible).

12 appointment as trustee, that Mr. Kwok own these shares or 13 not. And the second one is, let's assume he does own it, 14 what does he have to do not to be held in contempt. 15 So what I'd like to do through this order is to 16 bifurcate these issues and have a finding by the Court that 17 but for my appointment where I, you know, according to the 18 bankruptcy code, took over ownership of all the assets of 19 the debtor, the debtor would be the owner of the shares of 20 Ace Decade. 21 And very precisely -- first, there is -- there is 22 an introductory paragraph that says the Court would make the 23 following findings that I'll describe in a second, based on 24 the following pieces of evidence.

25 negotiated, and those pieces of evidence are the transcript

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 38 of the two 341 hearings -- or meetings, I'm sorry. Item Number B is the (indiscernible) of claims that they (indiscernible) complaint. Item Number 3 or C is the debtor's affidavit, dated February 5th, 2016, filed in the Ace Decade v. UBS case in New York Supreme Court. And it says that these exhibits have been admitted -- or this is if you enter the order. They would have been admitted pursuant to Your Honor's order without objection, and that the debtor, having not opposed or otherwise objected to entry of this order, the Court makes the following finding. I know in two seconds flat you're going to say, is this a consent order, and -- because that's always the question you ask. And I'm getting better at this, I know. I know. And it's kind of an amorphous -- I know that it would be simpler to have a consent order for -- also (indiscernible) this is the agreement we're able to get. Basically, that you have evidence that's admitted. Based on that, you make these findings. The debtor is not objecting to the Court making these findings, and these findings are as follows. That the debtor exclusively and beneficially owns and controls the shares of Ace Decade on the petition date, and maintains such exclusive beneficial ownership and control up to and including immediately prior

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 to the date of my appointment.

2 for Dawn State, which is 100 percent subsidiary of Ace 3 Decade. 4 In addition to that, it says for the avoidance of 5 doubt, this (indiscernible) is not and has never been a 6 beneficial owner of the shares in Ace Decade or Dawn State. 7 We believe that all the evidence that you would 8 have admitted without objection if you decided to enter this 9 order, supports these findings and the debtor is not 10 objecting to these findings being made. 11 Paragraph 2 states that the debtor represents that 12 he has never transferred or purported to transfer any 13 ownership or control in Ace Decade since the petition date. 14 Accordingly, the Court finds that but for my appointment, 15 the debtor would still exclusively benficially own and 16 control Ace Decade as of the date of this order. 17 And then paragraph 3 talks about part 2 of this, 18 because there's not a full agreement between the parties. 19 And basically that the Court -- it says that the Court would 20 hold a hearing tomorrow, because we -- you had to reserve 21 that time, so I don't know if it's still available, given 22 that you probably canceled your schedule on Tuesday, I don't 23 know. So the point is, it would be a hearing.

24 that the compliance hearing on the issue of, okay, now that 25 we've entered this order.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 to not be held in contempt?

2 -- I'm previewing this.

3 this, the debtor is going to take the position that as long 4 as it does certain things, like send a letter pursuant to 5 whatever, that there should be no finding of contempt 6 because that's outside of his control.

And then we're going to say, no, you need to hold them in content until he turns over the shares. That's for tomorrow, but we say in paragraph 4 that at the hearing, we will rely on various exhibits and we will want some of these exhibits to be admitted into evidence.

Already, the debtor has stipulated to the admissibility of Exhibit 13. That's all listed in paragraph 4, et cetera, so I'm not going to repeat those. So that's been stipulated to, and it's -- and these exhibits really deal with the relationship between the debtor and Ms. Wang.

And the debtor reserves the right to represent through his counsel, the debtor would testify that Ms. Wang is not his employee and does not take direction from him, and of course we reserve the right to object to that and the parties, you know, basically reserve the right to argue that different weight or no weight should be given to certain exhibits, et cetera, et cetera.

Then paragraph 5 is a prophylactic provision that basically says the debtor is not going to, through the back

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 41 door, try to help, assist anyone taking the position that they own the shares of Ace Decades, so that the language has been self-explanatory. Paragraph 6 is very important. I want to make sure Your Honor understands this because it's counter intuitive. It says that nothing this order shall -- or the entry of the order shall preclude the trustee in the context of any further litigation against any third party from our viewing that any purported transfer by the debtor of the ownership or control of either or both of Ace Decade or Dawn State was or is an avoidable transfer or -- sorry, avoidable under the law or that such purported transfer should be disregarded. So what is this meant to cover? This is meant to cover a situation where, I don't know, the debtor forgot that he transferred the shares to his son, you know, a year ago. And the son comes in and says, no, I'm the one who's the owner of the shares. And we would say, well, okay, assuming that you're correct, we don't believe you're correct, but that transfer from the father to the son would be an avoidable transfer and we'd reserve the right to do that. We don't want the son to come in and say, hey, Judge Manning entered an order saying that the debtor owned

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 the shares, so you cannot come after me for the shares.

2 that's really the purpose of that section.

3 have to invoke that, but it's a fail safe mechanism. 4 Paragraph 7 says that the debtor has represented 5 that he does not contest any finding in this order and 6 accordingly will not appeal this order.

7 basically the rest or, you know, standard provisions, and 8 the point here is this.

9 phases, two separate orders. 10 So this order would become a final -- well, if 11 Your Honor decides to enter it, would be a final order 12 because the debtor could not appeal it. 13 What happens tomorrow, or whenever Your Honor 14 decides to hear that, that could be subject to an appeal by 15 the debtor if they're not happy with the result, or vice 16 versa. That's to be continued tomorrow, or if that schedule 17 still works for Your Honor. 18 So I wanted to describe this.

19 words in the order are more precise than my description, but 20 I thought it was important to take you through every 21 provision that's material in this order and what it 22 accomplishes and what it doesn't accomplish. Perhaps Mr.

24 THE COURT: Attorney Henzy? 25 MR. HENZY:

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 43 today, I'm going to tell you I agree with everything that Mr. Despins just said. I think he summarized the order very, very well. I might add a little bit of color, but I don't -- to his description of what arguments might be made at the compliance hearing, but I don't think he intended to be in any way, you know, complete in that description. I think it was just a -- a sort of a -- to give you an idea what that's going to be about. But I think he summarized the order very well. And the idea here is -- really what this does, I think, is obviate what might have been a lengthy evidentiary hearing, and I (indiscernible) the discussion this morning about whether or not the interpreter needs to be there. I think the idea is that this compliance hearing will be based on documents and legal arguments and there won't be any testimony. So again, I -- Mr. Despins, I think correctly summarized the order. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. I -- you know, as you probably both can gather, and I -- does anyone else wish to be heard on the contest issue before I have anything to say? (No audible response) THE COURT: Okay. Hearing nothing, I have Case 22-50073 Doc 1194 Filed 12/03/22 Entered 12/03/22 11:28:59 Page 43 of 67

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 reviewed the order.

2 progress without question, and that the parties are working 3 together to try to resolve many of the issues that are the 4 subject of the contempt motion. 5 The issues regarding -- in Paragraph 1 and 2 in 6 particular, with regarding -- with regard to Dawn State and 7 Ace Decade, all of the issues that were raised in the 8 contempt motion that relate to the government's order, and 9 then the objection and reply, those issues seem to be 10 resolved by this order. 11 The only -- the only issues that apparently I need 12 to address tomorrow is what -- and I'd like to make sure 13 that you agree with this, both of you, because I want to 14 make sure I'm not missing something. 15 The only issues that I -- when I say only, I'm not 16 saying it's simple.

17 you're asking the Court to decide at a hearing, which yes, 18 we're still available to have that hearing at 10:00 a.m. 19 tomorrow morning, is if and to what extent the debtor should 20 be held in contempt, aside from the -- this order, what's 21 provided in this order. Is that correct?

22 you're asking me to find?

23 contempt -- held in contempt, and if he is held -- and if he 24 is in contempt, what is he in contempt of and what is the 25 remedy for that. Is that what you're asking?

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 MR. DESPINS: Correct. 2 THE COURT: Okay. 3 MR. HENZY:

4 Your Honor. I don't quibble with your characterization of 5 what the compliance hearing is about. 6 I might put it a little bit differently, and I'm 7 not -- I don't even know if this is inconsistent with what 8 you said, is with a finding that the debtor owned Ace Decade 9 through the time of Mr. Despins's appointment, then what, if 10 anything, is he obligated to do under the court -- the 11 governance order, and if he's obligated to do anything, what 12 is he obligated to do?

13 would characterize it. 14 And if he -- and if he -- if Your Honor finds that 15 he should have done something that he -- and he hasn't done 16 it, then it's -- is he -- should he be held in contempt? 17 So again, I don't know that that's inconsistent 18 with the way you framed it, which -- but I want to be on the 19 record, that that's sort the way I am framing it. 20 THE COURT:

21 think that's inconsistent.

22 description is probably better worded than mine was. 23 MR. DESPINS: I don't agree with that, Your Honor. 24 THE COURT:

25 MR. DESPINS:

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 THE COURT:

2 it's all tying back to the corporate governance order, but 3 -- and which is what you said, so -- which is, is Mr. Kwok 4 in contempt of the corporate governance order?

5 is, how is he in contempt and what does he need to do to not 6 be in contempt? 7 MR. HENZY:

8 characterization, Your Honor. Yes. 9 MR. DESPINS:

10 bankruptcy code as well.

11 MR. HENZY: I don't disagree with that. I do not. 12 THE COURT: Oh, that's right. Okay. Thank you. 13 All right. 14 I -- so that -- you know, paragraph 3, when I read 15 paragraph 3, I thought okay, so what -- that's what I need 16 to do, figure out -- I believe given the provisions of the 17 order, and I understand it's not a full consent order, that 18 the parties -- that I believe what I'm -- what we'll see 19 tomorrow is that the trustee will assert through argument 20 and evidence that Mr. Kwok remains in contempt by not being 21 in full compliance with the order, and that Mr. Kwok will 22 argue that he is and then I'll have to decide. 23 MR. HENZY: Yes. 24 THE COURT:

25 are.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 MR. HENZY: Yes, Your Honor. 2 THE COURT: Okay. All right.

3 don't think I have any questions with regard to any of the 4 other provisions, although I didn't truly appreciate 5 Paragraph 6 until you explained it.

6 because again, when I read this order, I was focused more on 7 the first three paragraphs, I think, because -- 8 MR. DESPINS: Yep. 9 THE COURT:

10 were doing tomorrow, but I understand better what you're 11 arguing, or what the -- that's not an argument.

12 what the purpose of paragraph 6 is in the order. 13 I don't have any further questions.

14 else wish to be heard in connection with this order that has 15 the trustee would like -- the trustee and the debtor would 16 like the Court to enter, and then have the compliance 17 hearing commence at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning? 18 MR. DESPINS:

19 partly hate myself for saying this, but -- because I -- in 20 theory, this should be a happy moment, but it's not a happy 21 moment. 22 I want to make sure you understand this is about 23 progress which has cost the estate hundreds of thousands of 24 dollars in litigation to get to this point. 25 You know, so I don't want you to have the

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 impression that this all -- this was generated.

2 look at the objections we filed, the discovery we have to 3 take, the translator that cost a fortune.

4 through all of that to get to this point. Two depositions. 5 So I don't -- you know, I know from a judge's 6 point of view it's like, oh, it looks good.

7 they're settling. They're working well together.

8 say that. This was incredibly expensive and painful.

9 sorry, but I need to say that. 10 THE COURT:

11 progress, I don't mean that I think this is progress towards 12 ultimate resolutions of every issue in this case, or -- and 13 that I'm ignoring what has happened to get to this point and 14 the expense and efforts that have been undertaken to get to 15 this point, which may obviously have a detrimental effect on 16 creditor recovery in this case. 17 But what I meant was that the issues, specifically 18 the issues with regard to Ace Decade and the assertions that 19 had been made on the record that Mr. Kwok disagreed with the 20 translation and things of those nature -- of that nature, I 21 at least don't have to address those issues.

22 mean that I think it's progress in a manner that ignores 23 what happened to get to this point. 24 So I think it's a fair point that you raise, 25 Trustee Despins, and I do not want to give any impression

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 that I think that this was just some negotiation without a 2 great deal of effort and expense undertaken, which may be to 3 the detriment of creditors of the estate. 4 MR. HENZY: If I could, Your Honor?

5 Mr. Despins that this has been expensive and painful.

6 think we probably disagree about where responsibility lies 7 for that. But again, I mean, that's not before the Court 8 right now. 9 THE COURT: I agree with both of those statements. 10 But I think at -- when I say progress, I mean as far as 11 narrowing the issues that had to be decided in connection 12 with a motion for contempt. 13 MR. HENZY: Understood. 14 THE COURT: Okay? 15 MR. SARNOFF: Your Honor, this is Stuart Sarnoff. 16 Just a brief logistical question. 17 THE COURT: Yes. 18 MR. SARNOFF:

19 intending to hold tomorrow's hearing in person, and for 20 efficiency purposes and in light of it being effectively a 21 two-party argument, would Your Honor have any objection if 22 parties like PAX participated over Zoom virtually?

23 like us to be there, we can, we just think it may be more 24 efficient if we're not going to be presenting or cross 25 examining or doing anything of that nature.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 THE COURT:

2 am still contagious, I am not going to be in the courtroom. 3 So we are -- under the specific facts of circumstances of 4 today, which happens to be my illness, we are going to do 5 this via Zoom. 6 I have the flu, but it's still contagious and the 7 doctor suggested that I don't interact with people through 8 the end of this week. So -- excuse me. 9 So I am going to conduct this hearing via Zoom, so 10 everyone can watch via Zoom.

11 happens, because it sounds like there isn't going to be 12 testimony, so that will make it -- when I say it, the 13 virtual hearing -- a little less complex. I think, because 14 even though there will be exhibits introduced and possibly 15 shown during the hearing, I think it's a little less -- less 16 complex. 17 If we were going to have witnesses, I still might 18 -- and we were going to proceed tomorrow, I probably still 19 would do it via Zoom, but that would be because of me, not 20 because of the circumstances.

21 -- been under doctor's orders.

23 MR. HENZY: Feel better. 24 THE COURT: Thank you. 25 MR. LINSEY:

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 that's relevant to the proceedings tomorrow? 2 THE COURT: Yes. 3 MR. LINSEY: Patrick Linsey for the Trustee. 4 First of all, I hope you're feeling better.

5 everybody does. 6 Second of all with respect to proceeding tomorrow, 7 there is a motion to seal the trustee had filed.

8 ECF 1091. It was filed there on a sealed basis. 9 Actually, after we filed it, we determined that 10 there's nothing in the motion to seal itself that needed to 11 be sealed, so that's now also on the public docket at 1095. 12 And that addresses two things. 13 It addresses the trustee's reply memorandum 14 concerning the motion for contempt, but it also addresses 15 certain exhibits with respect to the motion for contempt. 16 Some of those exhibits will be at issue tomorrow. 17 So the issue of the exhibits that the trustee 18 believes should be sealed, the trustee has now filed under 19 seal and we would just ask that the Court, if it has the 20 time, look at that motion and hopefully be prepared to rule 21 that those exhibits can be considered in proceedings under 22 seal tomorrow. 23 I do think that we need to either have a 24 discussion with debtor's counsel, perhaps tweak the form of 25 order that was filed with the motion to seal.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 So we will be in touch with debtor's counsel after 2 this hearing, but we do think that the exhibits should be 3 sealed tomorrow. To the extent that, one, they're material, 4 that is subject to a privilege.

5 under the privileges order, the trustee has been able to 6 obtain discovery that includes, for example, correspondence 7 among and with the debtor's former counsel.

8 of that. It is subject to a claim of privilege. 9 And then there's at least one exhibit that's 10 subject to a confidentiality designation.

11 here, where the subject matter at issue with respect to Ace 12 Decade implicates the UBS claims under litigation in the 13 United Kingdom, we want to be sensitive to the existence 14 without privilege.

15 ahead of this by treating that issue with this motion. 16 THE COURT: Okay.

17 question or two about that.

18 position on the motion to seal? 19 MR. HENZY:

20 is that, I don't know, about noon today I think it was, 21 these two motions were filed, and they were -- all I

23 MR. LINSEY:

24 filings were the exhibits that were proposed to be under 25 seal, and you, the debtor is the only other party that

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 53 actually has those. So you have those. What I'm talking about is the motion that was filed on Monday under ECF 1095 which is with respect to the reply, and also the hearing exhibits on the motion for contempt. MR. HENZY: Which you did -- you did send to me, yes. MR. LINSEY: Correct. MR. HENZY: Okay. Got it. Okay, so -- THE COURT: All right. So 1095? Is that what you said? MR. LINSEY: Yes, Your Honor. MR. HENZY: Yes. Your Honor, yes, subject to me having this discussion with Mr. Linsey and whoever else is -- from that -- their side is going to be on it. I'd be surprised if I had any objection to this. THE COURT: All right. So let me just step back then. I obviously haven't looked at this yet. Okay? But I can, and I will, but I have a couple of questions about it. So let's assume that I grant the motion under seal. How are we going to present that evidence tomorrow if it's under seal? MR. LINSEY: To the extent there is evidence being presented that are privileged, subject to a claim of privilege, then I believe Your Honor would need to close the

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 proceeding to parties that are not the debtor or the 2 trustee, and not -- not for sort of undefined reasons, but 3 for the very real and tangible reasons that there is a 4 financial interest the estate has in protecting the 5 existence of that privilege and its relation to the assets, 6 which are the claims in the United Kingdom and also, the 7 trustee has obligations under the consent privileges order 8 that was negotiated and that Your Honor approved. 9 THE COURT: Okay.

10 I want to make sure be -- so what I'm wondering is -- and 11 you two still need to talk. 12 When I say you two, I don't mean necessarily the 13 two of you, but I mean the debtor and the trustee, about 14 these issues before tomorrow.

15 make more sense to start the hearing at 11:00 to give 16 everyone time, as opposed to 10:00?

17 MR. LINSEY:

18 Honor, if that works for Mr. Henzy. 19 MR. HENZY: That's fine. 20 MR. WOLMAN: Your Honor. 21 THE COURT: Yes? 22 MR. WOLMAN:

23 sealing motion.

24 Brown v. Maxwell, 929 F.3d 41.

25 multiple materials, but specifically with regard to summary

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 judgment materials and a contempt hearing could be deemed 2 akin to that, where the presumption of access under both the 3 common law and the first amendment attaches. 4 These would be judicial documents where the Court 5 is being requested to rely on them to make a determination, 6 an appealable final determination in fact, and that in light 7 of the Court -- the Second Circuit said in Brown, in light 8 of this strong first amendment presumption -- this is on 9 Page 47 -- continued sealing of the documents may be 10 justified only with specific on-the-record findings that 11 sealing is necessary to preserve higher values and only if 12 the sealing order is narrowly tailored to achieve that aim. 13 So to the extent the Court will be sealing 14 anything, there has to be justified very -- as a very high 15 standard, since these are judicial documents, at what that 16 privacy interest is that is being bandied around, not merely 17 the fact that it's in the attorney/client privilege or 18 designated confidential, and that it's as narrowly tailored 19 to achieve that as possible.

20 published and only a small portion gets redacted if 21 necessary. 22 MR. LINSEY: Okay, Your Honor.

23 that. The district court has a local rule, Local Rule 5E, 24 which has been adopted by the bankruptcy court's local

rules, and that is, I think, designed to sort of codify what

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 that standard is and, you know, has requirements that there 2 be particularized findings and the procedures being narrowly 3 tailored. We confront that rule directly in the motion and 4 we explain what the findings are and how the relief that's 5 set forth in the motion is narrowly tailored. 6 I do think that the value of attorney/client 7 privilege with respect to a \$500 million claim that's under 8 active litigation ought to be self evident. 9 MR. SARNOFF:

10 that's why I'm raising the issue here.

11 I have not seen them.

12 know, they will not be as high as the impounding party 13 believes they are as some higher values. 14 MR. LINSEY:

15 attorney/client privilege on facts that are well -- either 16 -- that are at issue in a litigation in another forum that 17 preserving the existence of that privilege is an important 18 interest. 19 And I really -- I would prefer not to get into 20 questions of partial labor.

21 with PAX about this, Your Honor, and the understanding is, 22 to the extent that things are sealed, we're going to cabin 23 that as narrowly as we can.

24 the trial exhibits not under seal.

25 reply memorandum is not under seal.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 majority of -- I think what we're likely to undo tomorrow, 2 at least as much of it as we can, would not be under seal. 3 But these particularized things that their disclosure was, 4 you know -- certainly without regard or, you know, real 5 protection, could threaten value for the estate, we need to 6 protect those. 7 MR. SARNOFF:

8 know, certainly in the absence of information, and I just 9 want to make sure that the Court does do its diligence 10 because as happened in the Brown v. Maxwell

11 Sweet from the Southern District of New York, completely 12 abandoned and advocated this responsibility, letting the 13 parties merely file anything they want, but under seal, 14 which resulted in a wholesale rebuke by the Second Circuit.

16 THE COURT:

17 counsel. 18 MR. SARNOFF:

19 there. 20 THE COURT: We don't have that in this case.

21 isn't a wholesale (indiscernible) case where there's been 22 wholesale filings of things under seal. 23 MR. SARNOFF:

24 that the parties were allowed to choose what to file under 25 seal and what not to, and that's what it sounds like Mr.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 Linsey is suggesting, that his decision should be 2 substituted for the Court's, which it should not be. 3 MR. LINSEY:

4 wouldn't have filed a motion requesting an order from the 5 Court. 6 THE COURT:

7 MR. LINSEY: That's why we're here. 8 THE COURT:

9 have an issue, Attorney Wolman, you have rights under the 10 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to move to unseal.

11 that's your remedy, isn't it? 12 MR. SARNOFF:

13 to seal. 14 THE COURT: I understand.

15 granted over your objection, then you have the right to seek 16 a motion to unseal that. 17 MR. SARNOFF: That is correct, Your Honor. 18 THE COURT: Yeah.

19 at the moment. I am going to look at everything.

20 decided anything.

21 haven't looked at the motion.

22 you say, Attorney Linsey? 23 MR. LINSEY: Yes, Your Honor. 24 THE COURT: Okay.

25 and I'm not going to start the hearing tomorrow until 11:00

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 because I would like to look at these issues and I would 2 like to make sure that I understand all the issues. 3 I think I -- the Brown case, my recollection was 4 that it was a serious issue of sexual assault or abuse, 5 which is not what we have in this case, and this is a 6 bankruptcy case that already has orders entered with regard 7 to privileged and confidential documentation.

8 review everything and I will rule accordingly. 9 MR. SARNOFF:

10 defamation case, and there was a protective order in that 11 case as well.

12 THE COURT:

13 protective order, Attorney Wolman.

14 with regard to the privileges in this case.

15 defamation case about a sexual abuse victim.

16 MR. SARNOFF: Yes. Yes, Your Honor. 17 THE COURT: Yes. 18 MS. CLAIBORN:

19 THE COURT: Go ahead, Attorney Claiborn. 20 MS. CLAIBORN:

21 interrupting.

22 considering the motion to seal to make sure to preserve the 23 U.S. Trustee's rights under Section 108. Sorry, 107(c)(3). 24 THE COURT: Oh, yes.

25 never an issue. I mean, the statute already says, anything

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 60 that's under seal, the U.S. Trustee has access to. That's what the bank -- that's what congress decided. That's not the court deciding, that's congress. So -- but I agree with you. MS. CLAIBORN: I just wanted to make sure that that was involved and put into the order (indiscernible)\*\*3:29:27. THE COURT: I completely understand what you're saying. MS. CLAIBORN: Uh-huh. THE COURT: And if you want that in the order, you could talk to Attorney Linsey about that. I don't know if I'm granting the order or granting anything that -- in the same vein. Somebody's speaking in the background. Please, could you put your microphone on mute? Thank you. MR. LINSEY: I'll speak with Ms. Claiborn, Your Honor, about that. THE COURT: Yeah. This Court is well aware, but I appreciate you pointing it out. I'm not suggesting anything is contrary. But again, that's congress. That's a requirement under the bankruptcy code. It has nothing to do with this Court's determination as to whether or not something should be sealed, right? If that is that it gives the United States

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 61 Trustee the unfettered right to see any information or any part of the record that may be placed under seal. Okay? MS. CLAIBORN: Thank you. THE COURT: Thank you. All right. Is there anything further to address this afternoon? MR. SARNOFF: Your Honor, Stuart Sarnoff. If I might just inquire? There was a matter taken under seal at the beginning of this hearing, and as a party who is a -- who is a partner of a law firm whose officers have been sort of targeted for protest and who represents a client and its personnel, its senior personnel who has now been -- now been targeted for protest, is there any update that the Court is able to provide to us for our own -- so that we can action item that and we can advise our client about what's happening? THE COURT: You can talk with Trustee Despins and Attorney Claiborn, but when you say on the record, targeting and things of that nature, they -- there was something -- there was information provided to the Court. The Court has made no findings. There are no findings or rulings with regard to that information, so you need -- if you have any questions, you can talk to Trustee Despins and Attorney Claiborn. MR. SARNOFF: Okay. Thank you.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 62 THE COURT: Okay? Thank you. MR. DESPINS: Your Honor, to be clear, I'll be free to convey to Mr. Sarnoff what happened during the sealed portion of the hearing? THE COURT: Well, you have an obligation, right, as a trustee, to the creditors of the estate, right? MR. DESPINS: Yes. THE COURT: And you can decide whatever you want to disclose or not disclose and feel that you are meeting and complying with your obligations. MR. DESPINS: Thank you, Your Honor. THE COURT: The record is under seal at this point and will remain under seal. There will be an order entered keeping that record under seal, and if someone wants to move to unseal that part of the record, there are -- that's what the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the local rules of procedure provide. The sealing took place based upon a record that was in place at that time about serious potential harm to individuals involved in this case that has nothing to do with the administration of the bankruptcy estate. And that harm, that potential harm outweighs, at least at this point, any interest in making that record public at this time. So therefore, if anybody -- you all need to act in whatever way you feel is appropriate, but

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 that is what the -- that is why the Court placed the record 2 under seal at that point in time.

3 and then any party can take any action it feels appropriate 4 under the circumstances. Okay? 5 MR. DESPINS: Thank you, Your Honor. 6 Your Honor, just before we go, we had tried to 7 slip in the brief status conference on various matters.

8 we could cover that? 9 MR. HENZY: Well, can I interject, Your Honor? 10 THE COURT: Yes, go ahead. 11 MR. HENZY:

12 scheduled by a court -- by court order.

13 the docket. There's no notice that went to any party of a 14 status conference. 15 THE COURT:

16 agree with Attorney Henzy.

17 yesterday -- yesterday, today, and -- well, actually it 18 wasn't today. Yesterday and Thursday were to address the 19 contempt motion. 20 I also then scheduled what I thought were -- when 21 you -- when you filed what I would call administrative 22 matters to be heard first to help continue the 23 administration of the estate, which was the joint 24 administration and the bar date order.

25 status conference actually scheduled for today.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 1 If you would like one scheduled, I would just ask 2 you to -- we had a period of time where we were putting -- 3 scheduling status conferences on schedule. 4 We -- that seemed to go to the side when we -- 5 when -- and that was fine when the application for the 6 preliminary injunction and restraining order and other 7 relief, and the PJR, excuse me, application was filed. 8 So I didn't schedule anything -- there was not 9 anything, because you had asked for the contempt motion to 10 be addressed prior to the evidentiary hearing on the 11 prejudgment remedies.

12 were supposed to be just those evidentiary hearings.

13 I've added to the calendar for -- that was supposed to occur 14 on yesterday and occurred today, again, were those 15 administrative matters. 16 We can have a status conference next week or the 17 following week, but it doesn't -- and we do need to have 18 some kind of either standing order or other order in place, 19 scheduling those status conferences so it's clear that 20 that's what we'll be addressing. Okay? 21 MR. DESPINS: Fair enough, Your Honor.

22 request the scheduling of the status conference? 23 THE COURT:

24 status conference held? 25 MR. DESPINS: As early as Your Honor is available.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 65 This will take no more than 10, 15 minutes. THE COURT: I can have a status conference next Tuesday, the 21st, and that will give people an opportunity to know that there is a status conference being held. MR. DESPINS: Okay. THE COURT: Hold on a minute. I'll check and see what the time frame is. (Pause) THE COURT: I could have a status conference at noon, and I will hold it via Zoom if the parties -- you don't have to request that. I'm sure if it's only going to be ten minutes, that we can do it via Zoom. MR. DESPINS: And, Your Honor, is that Tuesday, the 22nd? THE COURT: Yes. Did I say a different date? I'm sorry. MR. DESPINS: I thought I heard the 21st, but I could have heard wrong. THE COURT: Well, I can do it -- I could do it Monday or Tuesday, but Tuesday is fine if you -- if you want that. MR. DESPINS: It's probably better on Monday because I guess people are starting to disappear now, with Thanksgiving. Probably early on during the week so it's -- if you have Monday available, could --

Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 66 THE COURT: We could do Monday at noon or 1:00 p.m. MR. DESPINS: Oh, noon is fine for us. Thank you, Your Honor. MR. HENZY: And that would be via Zoom, Your Honor. THE COURT: Via Zoom. MR. HENZY: Okay. Yep. That's fine, Your Honor. That's fine with me. THE COURT: All right. So we'll schedule a status conference for November 21st at noon, and what we'll -- what we should do is I'll ask the courtroom deputy to issue a notice of a status conference to be held on the 21st at noon, and then you should be -- we should be prepared that if we're going to have continued status conferences, we need to at least set some dates at that -- at that status conference. Okay? MR. DESPINS: Understood, Your Honor. THE COURT: All right. MR. DESPINS: And the last point I just want to confirm before we let the interpreter go. Mr. Henzy, there will be no witnesses tomorrow? MR. HENZY: I do not -- we're not calling any witnesses, yes. MR. DESPINS: So we can cancel the interpreter.

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Ho Wan Kwok and Genever Holdings Corp. - November 16, 2022 67 Thank you very much, Your Honor. THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. All right. This is the last matter on today's calendar. We are starting the hearing tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. as opposed to 10:00 a.m., but it will be via Zoom. And since this is the last matter on today's calendar, court is adjourned. ALL: Thank you, Your Honor. THE COURTROOM DEPUTY: Court is adjourned. MS. CLAIBORN: Thank you. (Proceedings concluded at 3:38 p.m.) I, CHRISTINE FIORE, Certified Electronic Court 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. 17 December 1, 2022 18 Christine Fiore, CERT 19 Transcriber