Maersk, Inc. v. Neewra, Inc.
| Decision Date | 01 August 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 05 Civ. 4356(RCC).,05 Civ. 4356(RCC). |
| Citation | 443 F.Supp.2d 519 |
| Parties | MAERSK, INC. and A.P. Moller-Maersk-A/S, Plaintiffs, v. NEEWRA, INC.; Rednihom, Inc.; Aref Hassan Abul, Inc.; Arween Singh Sahni a/k/a Arween Sahni Singh a/k/a Arween Sahni a/k/a Arween Singh a/k/a Abul Sabah a/k/a Aref Hassan Abul; Mohinder Singh Sahni a/k/a Mohinder Sahni Singh a/k/a Mohinder Sahni a/k/a Mohinder Singh; Joginder Singh Sahni a/k/a Joginder Singh Sahni a/k/a Joginder Singh a/k/a Joginder Sahni; Sabharwal Chandra Kumar a/k/a Sabharwal K. Chandra; Help Line Collection Co. W.L.L.; Parker Dawood Tajuddin Tajudis Ismail Parker; Sardar Traders Est.; Sardar International Trading Co.; Al Tamasok Al Arabi Est.; John Does 1-100 (fictitious) and John Does Inc. 1-100 (fictitious), Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Eric E. Lenck, Lawrence Jay Kahn, Freehill, Hogan & Mahar, LLP, New York, NY, for plaintiffs.
Donald Joseph Kennedy, Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, New York, NY, for defendants.
Mohinder Singh Sahani ("Movant Sahani"), by order to show cause, moves to vacate Plaintiffs' maritime attachment against him or, in the alternative, to reduce the amount attached to $2,500. The instant motion turns on Movant Sahani's contention that his surname and identity are distinct from those of named defendant Mohinder Singh Sahni ("Defendant Sahni").1 Plaintiffs contend that Movant Sahani is Defendant Sahni and/or other individuals identified in the verified complaint ("Complaint"). Although the Court does not take a final position with respect to Movant Sahani's real name or his true identity, the Court refers to Movant Sahani by the name that he alleges is real for purposes of this opinion. For the reasons outlined below, Movant Sahani's application to vacate Plaintiffs' maritime attachment against him or lower the amount attached is DENIED.
On May 5, 2005, pursuant to the Complaint, Maersk, Inc. and A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S ("Plaintiffs")—together one of the world's largest shipping companies— obtained a Supplemental Rule B Process of Maritime Attachment and Garnishment ("Process of Attachment") against the named defendants to this action.2 In the Complaint, Plaintiffs allege that Defendant Sahni, along with members of his family and other associates, engaged in an international scheme to defraud Plaintiffs and other overseas carriers. Movant Sahani, whose funds have been restrained pursuant to Plaintiffs' Process of Attachment, asserts that he is neither Defendant Sahni nor any other defendant named in the Complaint.
In documents filed with the State of New York, Defendant Sahni is listed as the chairman or CEO of defendant Neewra, Inc. ("Neewra") and the president of defendant Rednihom, Inc. ("Rednihom").3 Neewra and Rednihom operated out of offices in New York State between 1998 and 2001. According to the Complaint, both companies defrauded Plaintiffs during that time period. Plaintiffs allege that Neewra and Rednihom committed fraudulent acts at the direction of, or with the assistance of, Defendant Sahni. By late 2003; Neewra and Rednihom had been dissolved by proclamation of the State of New York for failure to pay taxes.
Plaintiffs allege that defendant Arween Singh Sahni ("Arween"), Movant Sahani's nephew, operated Neewra and a third New York corporation, Aref Hassan Abul, Inc.4 ("AHA"); that defendant Joginder Singh Sahni ("Joginder"), Arween's father and Movant Sahani's brother, owns or operates defendant Help Line Collection Co. W.L.L. ("Help Line"), a foreign corporation with an office in Kuwait; that defendant Sabharwal Chandra Kumar ("Sahbarwal") owns or operates defendant Al Tamasok Al Arabi Est. ("Al Tamasok"), a foreign corporation with an office in Kuwait; and that each of these defendants, along with Defendant Sahni and others, conspired to defraud Plaintiffs on several occasions.
Movant Sahani is a 68-year-old Indian national and permanent resident of Kuwait who claims to own a business dealing exclusively in automobile windshields. He claims to have an eighth-grade education and limited ability to read and write English. According to his passport, he has made only two visits to the United States—in April 2005 and in July 2004. In contrast, the Defendant Sahni who acted on behalf of Neewra and Rednihom in New York during the relevant time period was born in the 1960s, had a social security number, a New York State Driver's License, engaged in correspondence from an address in New York, and maintained a New York telephone number. (See Garn. Order Mem. at 4.)
In light of this information, Plaintiffs have suggested that the individual acting as Defendant Sahni in the United States was Arween, Movant Sahani's nephew, though Plaintiffs contend that Arween did so with Movant Sahani's permission. Plaintiffs assert that Movant Sahani acted from Kuwait in conspiracy with others, including Arween, to further the fraudulent schemes alleged in the Complaint.
According to the Complaint, one of the named defendants' schemes involved the shipment of used tires from the United States to India ("Tire Shipment"). Plaintiffs allege that in late April 2001, Arween, on behalf of AHA, requested a price quote on the shipment of 720 container loads of used auto and truck tires to India.5 On or about May 2, 2001, Plaintiffs and AHA agreed to a service contract whereby AHA would deliver approximately 720 containers of tires to Plaintiffs over time and Plaintiffs would ship the containers to India in groups over time. The consignee of record in India, Golden Traders, would then pay Plaintiffs on a freight collect basis (i.e., pay the cost of the ocean freight before receiving the cargo).
Plaintiffs allege that they received approximately 260 containers from AHA for the Tire Shipment. On or about May 16, 2001, however, after approximately 200 of the containers arrived in India, Plaintiffs learned that Golden Traders did not exist or lacked interest in the shipment. After notifying AHA of the problem, Plaintiffs allege that Arween, on behalf of AHA, provided Plaintiffs with a replacement consignee, Poonanam Ent. ("Poonanam"). Plaintiffs allege that on or about May 18, 2001, Poonanam informed them it was not interested in the tires, but that on or about May 21, 2001, Arween, on behalf of AHA, again told Plaintiffs that Poonaman would offer $1,000 per container for the tires. Plaintiffs allege that they accepted the offer from Poonaman, but that the offer did not exist and Arween and AHA knew as much. On or about June 15, 2001, after Plaintiffs learned that Poonaman would not take any of the containers of tires, India Customs impounded the containers and Plaintiffs abandoned them.6
Another of named defendants' alleged schemes involved the shipment of goods from the United States to Kuwait ("Electronics Shipment"). On or about March 5, 1999, Arween, on behalf of Neewra, contracted with Plaintiffs to ship a container "said by the shipper to contain crates of electrical spare parts" for delivery to Kuwaiti consignee Al Tamasok. (Complaint ¶ 50.) According to the Complaint, Sahbarwal, on behalf of Al Tamasok, took delivery of the Electronics Shipment on May 5, 1999 without the original bill of lading. Plaintiffs allege that Arween authorized Plaintiffs to release the cargo to Sahbarwal and Al Tamasok in return for a $30,000 bank check as security. Five days later, on May 10, 1999, Neewra forwarded the "shipping documents" to its bank, Banco Popular, with a request for payment in the amount of $1.86 million from Al Tamasok. (Id. ¶ 64.)
Plaintiffs allege that Joginder, on behalf of Al Tamasok, "corrupted" one of Plaintiffs' employees and thereby obtained blank form bills of lading. (Id. ¶ 65.) Plaintiffs allege that Sahbarwal, also on behalf of Al Tamasok, then used one of these blank bills of lading to create a fictitious bill for the Electronics Shipment. The fictitious bill of lading, according to Plaintiffs, was then provided to Plaintiffs in return for Al Tamasok's original $30,000 security deposit. After Plaintiffs delivered the container to Al Tamasok, Neewra claimed that it never received payment for the shipment. Neewra filed an insurance claim with its insurer, Continental Insurance Company ("Continental"), which Continental rejected after investigation.
Neewra then brought suit against Plaintiffs in New York alleging misdelivery and conversion of the shipped goods ("New York Lawsuit"). Plaintiffs allege that Neewra brought the New York Lawsuit in an attempt to defraud them. In the suit, Neewra claimed that the shipping container it had stuffed, sealed, and delivered to Plaintiffs' agent contained 2000 units of new computer hard drives, which Neewra had purchased from Seagate Technology ("Seagate") through Micro-Spy Inc. ("Micro-Spy") for $1.6 million. Neewra alleged that it received an ocean bill of lading from Plaintiffs' agent upon delivery of the container, and thereafter negotiated the bill of lading to its bank. Neewra's bank was to hold the bill of lading—the document entitling Al Tamasok to claim the cargo from Plaintiffs in Kuwait—until Al Tamasok paid the full purchase price to Neewra. Neewra claimed that misdelivery and conversion occurred when Al Tamasok obtained a fraudulent bill of lading and thereby obtained the cargo in Kuwait without paying the purchase price.
In the Complaint, however, Plaintiffs allege that Seagate never sold hard drives to Micro-Spy or to Neewra, and that Neewra's invoice for a $1.6 million purchase of hard drives from Micro-Spy was false and fraudulent. Plaintiffs also allege that Neewra retained no "stuffing records" for the container, and that the container was stuffed and sealed in a suspicious manner—at a "small auto parts supply shop ... in a mainly residential neighborhood in Garfield, New Jersey." (Complaint ¶ 54.) Additionally, Plaintiffs...
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