Mars Electronics of N.Y., Inc. v. U.S.A. Direct, Inc.

28 F. Supp. 2d 91, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18463, 1998 WL 822119
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedNovember 23, 1998
Docket1:94-cv-04306
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 28 F. Supp. 2d 91 (Mars Electronics of N.Y., Inc. v. U.S.A. Direct, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mars Electronics of N.Y., Inc. v. U.S.A. Direct, Inc., 28 F. Supp. 2d 91, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18463, 1998 WL 822119 (E.D.N.Y. 1998).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

TRAGER, District Judge.

This case has a long and drawn out history. Plaintiff Mars Electronics of N.Y., Inc. (“Mars”) filed a Complaint in the Eastern District of New York on or about September 13, 1994, alleging claims of fraud, conversion and breach of contract, seeking $588,816.30 plus interest, costs and punitive damages, and contending that defendant Erik Put (“Put”) was the alter ego of defendant U.S.A. Direct, Inc. (“USAD”). Shortly thereafter, Mars moved for an Order of Attachment against defendants’ property. Judge Joanna Seybert granted an Order of Attachment against USAD, but finding the evidence that USAD was Put’s alter ego inconclusive, Judge Seybert declined to grant the Order of Attachment against Put. See Mem. & Order, 94-CV-4306, dated 10/14/94. I entered partial summary judgment against USAD by Order dated July 16, 1996, and issued a default judgment against USAD on January 8,1998. Mars now moves for summary judgment seeking to hold Put “personally liable for the judgment obtained by Mars against defendant [USAD].” Def. Not. of Mot. for Summary Judgment.

Background

(1)

Mars is a distributor of electronic products. Defendant USAD was, at the time of the transactions in question, engaged in purchasing goods from wholesalers and exporting them to Europe. Defendant Put was, at all times, the sole shareholder, officer and director of USAD. Def. Aff. in Opp. to Mot. for Summary Judgment, p. 4.

An evidentiary hearing on Mars’ Motion for Attachment was held before Judge Sey-bert on September 29 and October 5, 1994. At the evidentiary hearing, evidence was presented that USAD and MARS conducted business in two forms: (1) “plaintiff either sold electronics to USAD for resale to USAD’s own customers, in which case payment would be owed by USAD to plaintiff regardless of payment by the customers,” or (2) pursuant to an agreement negotiated between Mars and USAD, “plaintiff delivered electronics to USAD for sale to plaintiffs own customers, in which case payment would be owed by USAD to plaintiff upon payment by the customers [to USAD].” Mem. & Order, 94-CV-4306, dated 10/14/94. The dis *93 pute in this case is over business conducted in the second manner.

At the hearing, Mars contended that it sold specific goods valued at nearly $600,000 to USAD for shipment to Mars’ customers in Europe; that USAD shipped those goods to Mars customers; that Mars’ customers paid USAD for the goods, thus, triggering USAD’s payment obligation to Mars; and that USAD failed to pay Mars, and instead, kept the money which Put then secreted. See id. Following the evidentiary hearing, Judge Seybert issued a Memorandum and Order awarding Mars an Order of Attachment against USAD in the amount of $293,-090. See Mem. & Order, 94-CV-4306, dated 10/14/94. Judge Seybert found that “[t]he evidence before the Court” at that time did not “demonstrate that plaintiff [would] probably succeed in proving all of the amounts [claimed to be] owed by USAD.” Id. at 7. Judge Seybert based her finding on the fact that Mars did not proffer “specific proof’ that any Mars customer had actually paid USAD funds due to Mars with the exception of evidence relating to payment from two companies, AM Trade Corporation (“AM Trade”) and Impotex. Id. at 8. As to $180,-041 claimed to be owing from USAD’s shipment on Mars’ behalf of goods to Impotex, Judge Seybert found that the record before the court “fail[ed] to show what the relationship between the parties was regarding this transaction and therefore fail[ed] to establish probable success on the merits.” Id. at 9. No additional evidence was submitted by Mars to either Judge Seybert or myself concerning the Impotex transaction.

As to USAD’s $245,090 transaction with AM Trade, Judge Seybert found that Mars had established probability of success on the merits based upon; (i) testimony offered by plaintiff that it had negotiated a $245,090 sale of electronics to AM Trade, to be shipped by USAD; (ii) evidence that Mars invoiced USAD for the goods on August 4, 1994, and that USAD then invoiced AM Trade the following day; (hi) matching invoices from Mars to USAD and from USAD to AM Trade listing the same (Panasonic) goods and the same quantity, with the total amount being $245,090; 1 (iv) a written notation by the Vice President of AM Trade on the invoice from USAD, stating that the payment sent to USAD was “for Mars Electronics;” and (v) documentation of a wire transfer in the amount of $245,090 from AM Trade to USAD’s account at the First National Bank in Hope, New Jersey on August 15, 1994. 2 See id. at 10-12; Tr. dated 10/5/94, pp. 201-12.

At the hearing, Put testified that he could not recall whether the goods purchased by AM Trade were sold on Mars’ behalf and claimed that all money in his “direct possession,” including any money received from AM Trade, had been forwarded to Mars. Id. at 12. Put’s attempts to refute plaintiffs evidence were characterized as “meager” and “not sufficiently credible” by Judge Seybert who found it “disconcerting” that Put, as “USAD’s principal shareholder, president and chief operating officer,” was often “evasive” when questioned. 3 Id. at 12-13.

*94 Judge Seybert also granted Mars an Order of Attachment in the amount of $48,888.60, the face value of a dishonored check given by USAD to Mars, which Put acknowledged that USAD had an obligation to pay. See id. at 13. However, Judge Seybert specifically declined to grant an order of attachment against Put, finding that “the evidence before the Court at this time as to whether USAD acted as Put’s alter ego simply does not justify” such a result. Id. at 17. At the time that the decision not to pierce USAD’s corporate veil was made, the evidence was that (i) Put took funds totaling $272,000 from USAD’s bank account to pay personal expenses at the time it owed monies to Mars, 4 but (ii) Put used most of the withdrawn funds to purchase jeans for export in the ordinary course of business. Id. Importantly, there was no evidence that (i) the funds removed by Put were improperly authorized dividends or salary payments, or that the practice of paying for Put’s personal expenses out of USAD funds commonly occurred, or that (ii) Put failed to deal at arm’s length with his entities, or that his entities failed to deal at arm’s length with each other. Id.

(2)

Mars subsequently moved for partial summary judgment against USAD regarding the dishonored check ($48,888.60) and the AM Trade claim ($245,090). By my Order, dated July 16, 1996, Mars’ motion for partial summary judgment was granted against USAD in the amount of $268,248.81 ($293,978.60 less a $64,852.99 setoff for a USAD counterclaim, plus prejudgment interest at a rate of 9% per annum from August 17, 1994, totaling $39,-123.20). See Order, 94-CV-4306, dated 7/16/96. Mars’ attempts to enforce this judgment against USAD have been futile.

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28 F. Supp. 2d 91, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18463, 1998 WL 822119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mars-electronics-of-ny-inc-v-usa-direct-inc-nyed-1998.