Preview
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020
Ziad Rafic Korban
02/26/2019 1
1 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
2 COUNTY OF NEW YORK
3 -----------------------------------x
4 SPARX LOGISTICS HONG KONG LTD,
5 SPARX LOGISTICS USA LIMITED,
6 Plaintiffs, Index No.
7 -against- 650884/2017
8 SHOEZ, INC., BRANDS UNLIMITED,
9 GIF SERVICES, INC., DEEPAK
10 RAMCHANDANI a/k/a DEEPAK PARIKH,
11 and GINA NAPOLITANO,
12 Defendants.
13 -----------------------------------x
14 February 26, 2019
15 10:04 a.m.
16
17
18 Deposition of ZIAD RAFIC KORBAN, at the
19 offices of Sam P. Israel, P.C., 180 Maiden Lane,
20 New York, New York 10038, before Roberta Caiola,
21 a Shorthand Reporter and Notary Public within and
22 for the State of New York.
23
24
25
U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT
(877) 479-2484
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020
Ziad Rafic Korban
02/26/2019
1 A P P E A R A N C E S:
1
2
2
3 LAZARUS & LAZARUS, P.C.
3
4 Attorneys for Plaintiffs
4
5 240 Madison Avenue
5
6 New York, New York 10016
7 BY: YVETTE J. SUTTON, ESQ. 7
8
g
9
9
10 SAM P. ISRAEL, P.C.
10
11 Attorneys for Defendants 11
12 180 Maiden Lane 12
13 6th Floor
13
14 New York, New York 10038 14
15 BY: SAM P. ISRAEL, ESQ•
15
16 DAVID HROVAT, ESQ.
16
17
17
18
18
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19
20
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21
22
22
23
23
24
24
25
25
U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT
(877) 479-2484
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020
Ziad Rafic Korban
02/26/2019 3
1 INDEX
2
3 WITNESS: ZIAD RAFIC KORBAN PAGE
4 EXAMINATION BY: MR. ISRAEL 4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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13
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25
U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT
(877) 479-2484
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020
Ziad Rafic Korban
02/26/2019 9
1 Z. Korban
2 or no.
3 A. I don't know.
4 Q. Are you aware that you've sued her for
5 fraud?
6 A. Correct.
7 Q. What's the basis for the suit for
8 fraud?
9 A. They knew that they don't have the bill
10 of lading and they told us you will have it the
11 next day, and they never had the bill of lading.
12 Q. Let's break that down. You said they
13 knew that they didn't have the bill of lading and
14 that you would have it the next day?
15 A. Yeah.
16 Q. So you're not saying that she
17 represented to you, she being Gina. I'm going to
18 call her Gina for short, but her full name, just
19 so we're clear on this, is Gina Napolitano,
20 N-a-p-o-1-i-t-a-n-o.
21 She told you that she did not have the
22 bill of lading, but she said she would have it
23 the next day, is that correct?
24 A. She said her customer has the bill of
25 lading on hand and she will get it to us the next
U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT
(877) 479-2484
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020
Ziad Rafic Korban
02/26/2019 10
___
1 Z. Korban
2 day.
3 Q. How would she know that her customer
4 had it?
5 A. I don't know.
6 Q. You don't know?
7 A. No.
8 Q. So she said that her customer had it,
9 but you don't know why she would know that her
10 customer had it?
11 A. If my customer tells me I have the bill
12 of lading, then I believe he has the bill of
13 lading.
14 Q. Did her customer tell her that she has
15 the bill of lading?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Do you know that?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. What's the basis of that?
20 A. She promised us the next day she will
21 have the bill of lading. Why would she say
22 tomorrow she will have the bill of lading.
23 Q. I don't know. But what I'm asking you
24 is how do you know that her customer told her
25 that he had the bill of lading?
U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT
(877) 479-2484
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020
Ziad Rafic Korban
02/26/2019 11
1 Z. Korban
2 A. That's what she told us.
3 Q. She told you that her customer said
4 that he had the bill of lading?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And she said those words exactly?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. When did she say that?
9 A. I don't remember, it's two years ago.
10 Q. You don't know that she knew that the .
11 customer did not have the bill of lading,
12 correct?
13 A. I don't know.
14 Q. Okay. How did Gina tell you -- I'm
15 going to call her Gina, but I mean Ms.
16 Napolitano.
17 How did Gina tell you that her customer
18 had the bill of lading?
19 A. She called us.
20 Q. Did she send you an email to that
21 effect?
22 A. No.
23 Q. When she called who did she speak to;
24 to you personally?
25 A. She spoke with my office in Los
U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT
(877) 479-2484
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020
Ziad Rafic Korban
02/26/2019 12
1 Z. Korban
2 Angeles. She spoke with Adi Dagan in Hong Kong,
3 begging him to release the shipment.
4 Q. When you say she spoke to your office
5 in Los Angeles, who did she speak to at your
6 office in Los Angeles?
7 A. The operations manager.
8 Q. What's that person's name?
9 A. Alice.
10 Q. Did Alice tell you that she spoke to
11 her?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. What did she say that Gina Napolitano
14 told her?
15 A. She promised Alice she would get the
16 bill of lading the next day.
17 Q. But she didn't say that she had the
18 bill of lading, correct?
19 A. She didn't say she had the bill of
20 lading. She said her customer had the bill of
21 lading on hand and he will get it to us the next
22 day.
23 Q. In terms of your Hong Kong office, what
24 was said in that regard, in terms of having the
25 bill of lading?
U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT
(877) 479-2484
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020
Ziad Rafic Korban
02/26/2019
1 Z. Korban
2 upon having a bill of lading before releasing
3 goods?
4 A. I don't know.
5 Q. I want to ask you something about what
6 was alleged in Hong Kong, not in Hong Kong, what
7 was alleged in the lawsuit that was brought by
8 the bank?
9 MS. SUTTON: Any time you want a break.
10 Q. You can take a break any time you want,
11 just let me know, as long as a question isn't
12 pending.
13 In the papers that were filed by the
14 bank it lists a series of payments that had to be
15 made in settling the lawsuit, and the set balance
16 sum of $140,000 is payable on the 8th day of each
17 consecutive month starting on January 8th, with
18 the last installment payable on December 8, 2018.
19 Was that last payment made? 3
20 A. Yes. 2
21 Q. So all the payments were made? 2
22 A. All of the payments. 2.
23 Q. In the action that was brought by the 2:
24 bank, in paragraph 11B it says that, "In almost 24
of said shipments," I know I'm to
25 all the going 25
U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT
(877) 479-2484
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020
Ziad Rafic Korban
02/26/2019 21
1 Z. Korban
2 mangle this name, but "Mr. Manoj Panjabi had
3 requested the defendant to release the cargoes to
4 the consignee or notified party named in the bill
5 of lading without production of the original bill
of lading."
6
7 Do you know whether that's the case?
8 A. Yes.
1 9 Q. Why would it be that they would release
10 goods without the bill of lading?
11 A. In the assumption that we were going to
receive the original bill of lading the next day.
3 Q. So this is something that took place
4 with other customers, other than the situation
5 that you had with Ms. Napolitano and with Shoez?
6 A. Very few.
17 Q. Very few?
18 A. Very few, and we have the dock receipt
19 when we released the shipment. There's a dock
20 receipt and it's listed original bill of lading
21 must be submitted.
22 Q. When you few," can you name
say "very
23 who they are?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Can you name one of them?
U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT
(877) 479-2484
Preview
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020 Ziad Rafic Korban 02/26/2019 1 1 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 2 COUNTY OF NEW YORK 3 -----------------------------------x 4 SPARX LOGISTICS HONG KONG LTD, 5 SPARX LOGISTICS USA LIMITED, 6 Plaintiffs, Index No. 7 -against- 650884/2017 8 SHOEZ, INC., BRANDS UNLIMITED, 9 GIF SERVICES, INC., DEEPAK 10 RAMCHANDANI a/k/a DEEPAK PARIKH, 11 and GINA NAPOLITANO, 12 Defendants. 13 -----------------------------------x 14 February 26, 2019 15 10:04 a.m. 16 17 18 Deposition of ZIAD RAFIC KORBAN, at the 19 offices of Sam P. Israel, P.C., 180 Maiden Lane, 20 New York, New York 10038, before Roberta Caiola, 21 a Shorthand Reporter and Notary Public within and 22 for the State of New York. 23 24 25 U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT (877) 479-2484 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020 Ziad Rafic Korban 02/26/2019 1 A P P E A R A N C E S: 1 2 2 3 LAZARUS & LAZARUS, P.C. 3 4 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 4 5 240 Madison Avenue 5 6 New York, New York 10016 7 BY: YVETTE J. SUTTON, ESQ. 7 8 g 9 9 10 SAM P. ISRAEL, P.C. 10 11 Attorneys for Defendants 11 12 180 Maiden Lane 12 13 6th Floor 13 14 New York, New York 10038 14 15 BY: SAM P. ISRAEL, ESQ• 15 16 DAVID HROVAT, ESQ. 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT (877) 479-2484 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020 Ziad Rafic Korban 02/26/2019 3 1 INDEX 2 3 WITNESS: ZIAD RAFIC KORBAN PAGE 4 EXAMINATION BY: MR. ISRAEL 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT (877) 479-2484 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020 Ziad Rafic Korban 02/26/2019 9 1 Z. Korban 2 or no. 3 A. I don't know. 4 Q. Are you aware that you've sued her for 5 fraud? 6 A. Correct. 7 Q. What's the basis for the suit for 8 fraud? 9 A. They knew that they don't have the bill 10 of lading and they told us you will have it the 11 next day, and they never had the bill of lading. 12 Q. Let's break that down. You said they 13 knew that they didn't have the bill of lading and 14 that you would have it the next day? 15 A. Yeah. 16 Q. So you're not saying that she 17 represented to you, she being Gina. I'm going to 18 call her Gina for short, but her full name, just 19 so we're clear on this, is Gina Napolitano, 20 N-a-p-o-1-i-t-a-n-o. 21 She told you that she did not have the 22 bill of lading, but she said she would have it 23 the next day, is that correct? 24 A. She said her customer has the bill of 25 lading on hand and she will get it to us the next U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT (877) 479-2484 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020 Ziad Rafic Korban 02/26/2019 10 ___ 1 Z. Korban 2 day. 3 Q. How would she know that her customer 4 had it? 5 A. I don't know. 6 Q. You don't know? 7 A. No. 8 Q. So she said that her customer had it, 9 but you don't know why she would know that her 10 customer had it? 11 A. If my customer tells me I have the bill 12 of lading, then I believe he has the bill of 13 lading. 14 Q. Did her customer tell her that she has 15 the bill of lading? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Do you know that? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. What's the basis of that? 20 A. She promised us the next day she will 21 have the bill of lading. Why would she say 22 tomorrow she will have the bill of lading. 23 Q. I don't know. But what I'm asking you 24 is how do you know that her customer told her 25 that he had the bill of lading? U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT (877) 479-2484 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020 Ziad Rafic Korban 02/26/2019 11 1 Z. Korban 2 A. That's what she told us. 3 Q. She told you that her customer said 4 that he had the bill of lading? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. And she said those words exactly? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. When did she say that? 9 A. I don't remember, it's two years ago. 10 Q. You don't know that she knew that the . 11 customer did not have the bill of lading, 12 correct? 13 A. I don't know. 14 Q. Okay. How did Gina tell you -- I'm 15 going to call her Gina, but I mean Ms. 16 Napolitano. 17 How did Gina tell you that her customer 18 had the bill of lading? 19 A. She called us. 20 Q. Did she send you an email to that 21 effect? 22 A. No. 23 Q. When she called who did she speak to; 24 to you personally? 25 A. She spoke with my office in Los U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT (877) 479-2484 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020 Ziad Rafic Korban 02/26/2019 12 1 Z. Korban 2 Angeles. She spoke with Adi Dagan in Hong Kong, 3 begging him to release the shipment. 4 Q. When you say she spoke to your office 5 in Los Angeles, who did she speak to at your 6 office in Los Angeles? 7 A. The operations manager. 8 Q. What's that person's name? 9 A. Alice. 10 Q. Did Alice tell you that she spoke to 11 her? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. What did she say that Gina Napolitano 14 told her? 15 A. She promised Alice she would get the 16 bill of lading the next day. 17 Q. But she didn't say that she had the 18 bill of lading, correct? 19 A. She didn't say she had the bill of 20 lading. She said her customer had the bill of 21 lading on hand and he will get it to us the next 22 day. 23 Q. In terms of your Hong Kong office, what 24 was said in that regard, in terms of having the 25 bill of lading? U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT (877) 479-2484 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020 Ziad Rafic Korban 02/26/2019 1 Z. Korban 2 upon having a bill of lading before releasing 3 goods? 4 A. I don't know. 5 Q. I want to ask you something about what 6 was alleged in Hong Kong, not in Hong Kong, what 7 was alleged in the lawsuit that was brought by 8 the bank? 9 MS. SUTTON: Any time you want a break. 10 Q. You can take a break any time you want, 11 just let me know, as long as a question isn't 12 pending. 13 In the papers that were filed by the 14 bank it lists a series of payments that had to be 15 made in settling the lawsuit, and the set balance 16 sum of $140,000 is payable on the 8th day of each 17 consecutive month starting on January 8th, with 18 the last installment payable on December 8, 2018. 19 Was that last payment made? 3 20 A. Yes. 2 21 Q. So all the payments were made? 2 22 A. All of the payments. 2. 23 Q. In the action that was brought by the 2: 24 bank, in paragraph 11B it says that, "In almost 24 of said shipments," I know I'm to 25 all the going 25 U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT (877) 479-2484 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 02/14/2020 06:00 PM INDEX NO. 650884/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 108 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 02/14/2020 Ziad Rafic Korban 02/26/2019 21 1 Z. Korban 2 mangle this name, but "Mr. Manoj Panjabi had 3 requested the defendant to release the cargoes to 4 the consignee or notified party named in the bill 5 of lading without production of the original bill of lading." 6 7 Do you know whether that's the case? 8 A. Yes. 1 9 Q. Why would it be that they would release 10 goods without the bill of lading? 11 A. In the assumption that we were going to receive the original bill of lading the next day. 3 Q. So this is something that took place 4 with other customers, other than the situation 5 that you had with Ms. Napolitano and with Shoez? 6 A. Very few. 17 Q. Very few? 18 A. Very few, and we have the dock receipt 19 when we released the shipment. There's a dock 20 receipt and it's listed original bill of lading 21 must be submitted. 22 Q. When you few," can you name say "very 23 who they are? 24 A. No. 25 Q. Can you name one of them? U.S. LEGAL SUPPORT (877) 479-2484