Kahan Jewelry Corp. v. Coin Dealer of 47th St. Inc.

• Decision Date: 20 June 2019
• Docket Number: 9672,Index 160007/13
• Citation: 173 A.D.3d 568,105 N.Y.S.3d 385
• Parties: KAHAN JEWELRY CORP., et al., Plaintiffs–Appellants, v. COIN DEALER OF 47TH ST. INC., et al., Defendants, David Yusupov, Defendant–Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

173 A.D.3d 568
105 N.Y.S.3d 385

KAHAN JEWELRY CORP., et al., Plaintiffs–Appellants,
v.
COIN DEALER OF 47TH ST. INC., et al., Defendants,

David Yusupov, Defendant–Respondent.

9672
Index 160007/13

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

ENTERED: JUNE 20, 2019

105 N.Y.S.3d 386

Usher Law Group, P.C., Brooklyn (Mikhail Usher of counsel), for appellants.

Cox Padmore Skolnik & Shakarchy LLP, New York (Steven D. Skolnik of counsel), for respondent.

Friedman, J.P., Richter, Kahn, Singh, JJ.

173 A.D.3d 568

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Shirley Werner Kornreich, J.), entered April 16, 2018, which, to the extent appealed from as limited by the briefs, granted defendants' summary judgment motions to the extent of dismissing the claims against the individual defendants Yusupov and Aronov, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

To pierce the corporate veil and hold the individual defendants liable for a corporation's actions, plaintiffs were required to show that "(1) the [individual] owner[s] exercised complete domination over the corporation with respect to the transaction attacked, and (2) that such domination was used to commit a fraud or wrong against the plaintiff, resulting in plaintiff's injury" ( First Capital Asset Mgt. v. N.A. Partners , 300 A.D.2d 112, 116, 755 N.Y.S.2d 63 [1st Dept. 2002] ). Plaintiffs who seek to pierce

173 A.D.3d 569

the corporate veil "bear a heavy burden" ( TNS Holdings v. MKI Sec. Corp. , 92 N.Y.2d 335, 339, 680 N.Y.S.2d 891, 703 N.E.2d 749 [1998] ), which was not met here.

First, even if the court were to accept plaintiffs' contention that Aronov had complete domination over the corporate defendants, it would not allow plaintiffs to collect against Yusupov. While plaintiffs argue extensively that defendant Aronov was the alter ego of Coin Dealer of 47th St. Inc. (Coin Dealer 47), they do not show or even attempt to argue that...