Zonghetti v. Jeromack

• Decision Date: 15 May 1989
• Citation: 150 A.D.2d 561,541 N.Y.S.2d 235
• Parties: Renato ZONGHETTI, et al., individually and d/b/a Frederick Realty Co., Respondents-Appellants, v. Alice JEROMACK, et al., Appellants-Respondents.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

Page 235

541 N.Y.S.2d 235

150 A.D.2d 561

Renato ZONGHETTI, et al., individually and d/b/a Frederick Realty Co., Respondents-Appellants, v. Alice JEROMACK, et al., Appellants-Respondents.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division Second Department.

May 15, 1989.

Zwerling, Schachter & Zwerling, New York City (Robert S. Schachter and Susan Salvetti, of counsel), for appellants-respondents.

Damadeo & DeMartin, Hicksville (Charles P. DeMartin and Patricia Gallagher, of counsel), for respondents-appellants.

Before BRACKEN, J.P., and LAWRENCE, KUNZEMAN and KOOPER, JJ.

MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.

In an action to recover damages, inter alia, for conversion, the defendants appeal, as limited by their brief, from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Nassau County (Collins, J.), dated March 14, 1988, as (1) granted the plaintiffs' motion pursuant to CPLR 6301 for a preliminary injunction enjoining the defendants, with certain exceptions, from selling, transferring, assigning, disposing, encumbering or removing any of the defendants' assets pending completion of this action, and (2) granted the plaintiffs' motion pursuant to CPLR 2201 for a stay of this action and all discovery, pending the completion of a criminal action against the defendant Alice Jeromack. The plaintiffs cross-appeal from so much of the same order as required them to post a $740,000 undertaking as a condition to obtaining injunctive relief.

ORDERED that the order is modified by reducing the amount of the undertaking from $740,000 to $100,000; as so modified, the order is affirmed insofar as appealed and cross-appealed from, without costs or disbursements.

The plaintiffs commenced suit against the defendants, alleging that the defendant Alice Jeromack--formerly a bookkeeper for the plaintiffs--converted sums in excess of $740,000 by making unauthorized withdrawals from checking accounts so as to purchase various luxury goods. Shortly after the commencement of the plaintiffs' lawsuit, the Nassau County District Attorney issued a felony complaint charging Alice Jeromack with two counts of grand larceny in the second degree.

By order to show cause dated February 22, 1988, the plaintiffs brought on a motion to enjoin the defendants from disposing or transferring any of their assets pending completion of the civil action, and staying the civil action pending the completion of the related criminal action.

In support of their motion, the plaintiffs annexed the affidavit of the plaintiff Renato Zonghetti, who averred, inter alia, that the defendant Alice Jeromack had made the unauthorized withdrawals from the plaintiffs' checking account to purchase "luxury" items such as furs and jewelry. Annexed as an exhibit to the Zonghetti affidavit were four sales receipts from a jeweler bearing the defendants' names. With regard to the injunction prohibiting the defendants from transferring or dissipating any of their assets, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants were attempting to dispose of some of the luxury items by selling them back to the merchants from whom they were purchased. The plaintiffs further argued that the court should stay their civil action, including any discovery, because, inter alia, it was their "intention not to take any action whatsoever which may somehow interfere with the pending criminal charges" and that...