Preview
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/08/2022 10:38 AM INDEX NO. 657193/2020
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 166 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/08/2022
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
COMMERCIAL DIVISION: NEW YORK COUNTY
-------------------------------------------------------------- x
YASEMIN TEKINER, in her individual capacity, :
as a beneficiary and a Trustee of The Yasemin :
Tekiner 2011 Descendants Trust and derivatively as :
a holder of equitable interests in a shareholder or a : Index No.: 657193/2020
member of the Company Defendants, :
Plaintiff, : Motion Seq. No.:
:
- against – :
: AFFIRMATION OF
BREMEN HOUSE INC., BREMEN HOUSE : STEPHEN P. YOUNGER
TEXAS, INC., GERMAN NEWS COMPANY, :
INC., GERMAN NEWS TEXAS, INC., 254 - 258 :
W. 35TH ST. LLC, BERRIN TEKINER, GONCA :
TEKINER, and BILLUR AKIPEK, in her capacity :
as a Trustee of The Yasemin Tekiner 2011 :
Descendants Trust, :
Defendants. :
-------------------------------------------------------------- x
STEPHEN P. YOUNGER, Esq., an attorney duly admitted to practice before the Courts
of the State of New York, affirms under the penalty of perjury, pursuant to CPLR § 2106 as
follows:
1. I am a member of the law firm Foley Hoag LLP, attorneys for Plaintiff Yasemin
Tekiner (“Plaintiff” or “Yasemin”) in the above-captioned matter. I submit this affirmation in
support of Plaintiff’s Order to Show Cause for Leave to Renew Her Motion for a Preliminary
Injunction pursuant to CPLR § 2221(e).
2. I am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances of this action, as set forth
herein, by virtue of my personal involvement as counsel and a review of the case files.
3. After Plaintiff’s initial motion seeking preliminary relief was decided in January
2020, discovery proceeded in this matter but not without considerable resistance from Defendants.
Defendants have repeatedly interfered with Plaintiff’s ability to take depositions, including from
third-party witnesses, and have repeatedly failed to produce responsive documents, including
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withholding documents that are the subject of multiple pending requests before the Court under
Commercial Division Rule 14.
4. Plaintiff’s pursuit of requested documents through many months of discovery
revealed that Defendants had either withheld large volumes of damaging texts and emails from
their initial productions or that documents they produced had been improperly redacted.
Defendants’ abuse of the discovery process has inhibited our ability to prosecute this case.
Nonetheless, as described below and in the accompanying affidavit of Plaintiff, discovery has
produced substantial evidence of Defendants’ looting and mismanagement of the Company, which
was unavailable at the time Plaintiff originally filed for preliminary relief.
5. Notably, despite Plaintiff’s legitimate request for the Company’s financial
statements to present, Defendants have declined to produce the Company’s current financial
information.
6. On December 22, 2021, months after a subpoena was issued and only after
numerous emails were exchanged insisting that the deposition go forward, I took the deposition of
Zeynep Tekiner (“Zeynep”) by Zoom. A true and accurate copy of excerpts from that deposition
transcript is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
7. At Zeynep’s deposition, defense counsel filled large portions of Plaintiff’s
deposition time with numerous speaking objections. As a result, defense counsel improperly cut
the deposition well short of the full seven hours afforded to Plaintiff to question Zeynep under the
Commercial Division Rules. I was thus unable to explore topics fully, such as Defendant Berrin
Tekiner’s (“Berrin”) pressuring of her daughter, Zeynep, to sign a consent to Yasemin’s firing and
related topics.
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8. Despite my inability to depose Zeynep fully, the deposition testimony exposed
information which, when combined with the other proof submitted on this motion, warrants
renewal of Yasemin’s injunction motion. Moreover, given the lack of a full opportunity to depose
her, I believe that Zeynep has further information that would cast serious doubts on the propriety
of my client’s termination from her positions with the Company.
9. On December 8, 2021, co-counsel, Evan Mandel, Esq., took the Zoom deposition
of Defendant, Billur Akipek (“Billur”), who is an officer of Bremen House Inc. (“Bremen”), an
officer and director of German News Company, Inc. (“German”) and the sole remaining member
of the trust committee for Yasemin’s trust, which own one-third of the shares of the Company. A
true and accurate copy of excerpts from that deposition transcript is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
10. During the course of discovery, Defendants produced an undated document which
purported to show the consent of the Bremen shareholders to removing Yasemin from her role as
a director of Bremen, bearing Bates Numbers Brem00278777-83. A true and accurate copy of this
document is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
11. Also during the course of discovery, Defendants produced a text message dated
December 28, 2020 in which Defendant Billur advised a family friend that “now, is the worst
possible time to sell” New York real estate, bearing Bates Numbers Brem00289179-80. A true
and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit D.
12. During discovery, Defendants produced an email dated January 23, 2021, bearing
Bates Number Brem00322199, in which Billur directed a Company employee Angela Duschaj
(“Angela”), to clean up glass in her mother’s bathtub. A true and accurate copy of this document
is attached hereto as Exhibit E.
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13. During discovery, Defendants produced an email dated January 3, 2021, bearing
Bates Number Brem00321805, in which Angela asked Billur what time “you guys” are leaving
because Angela is “going to clean moms [sic] apartment.” A true and accurate copy of this
document is attached hereto as Exhibit F.
14. During discovery, Defendants produced an email dated January 2, 2021, bearing
Bates Number Brem00321781, in which Billur asked Angela to bring her mother cat food. A true
and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit G.
15. During discovery, Defendants produced an email dated October 1, 2020, bearing
Bates Number Brem00320072, discussing Angela doing laundry for Billur’s mother. A true and
accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit H.
16. During discovery, Defendants produced an accounting of Berrin’s officer loan
transactions with the Company as of December 31, 2020, bearing Bates Number Brem000330046.
A true and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit I.
17. A search conducted on New York City’s Automated City Register Information
System (“ACRIS”), publicly available at https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/Index,
revealed a deed for 124 East 79th Street, Units 12C and 12D, New York, New York 10075 (Block
1413, Lots 1044 and 1051) (the “East 79th Street Property”). The deed reflects that Berrin
purchased in her individual capacity apartments 12C and 12D located at 124 East 79th Street, New
York, New York 10075 (Block 1413, Lots 1044 and 1051) for a recorded purchase price of
$2,800,000 (the ”Deed”). The Deed was recorded against both parcels on August 30, 2021, under
CRFN 2021000341326. A true and accurate copy of the recorded Deed is attached hereto as
Exhibit J.
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18. According to ACRIS, a title search for the East 79th Street Property does not reflect
that any mortgage has been recorded on that property. A true and accurate copy of a screenshot
from ACRIS reflecting the search results as of March 2, 2022 for the East 79th Street Property is
attached hereto as Exhibit K.
19. According to real estate records from Westchester Records Online, publicly
available at: https://wro.westchesterclerk.com/Login/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f, in August
2017, a company called Bremen House Bronxville LLC purchased a property located at 81
Tanglewyde Ave. in Bronxville, N.Y. for a recorded purchase price of $3,885,000. A true and
accurate copy of that property record is attached hereto as Exhibit L. As indicated in the affidavit
of Yasemin Tekiner, that property is currently listed for sale. (Yasemin Aff. ¶ 23).
20. On August 5, 2021, David E. Chelsea and Gonca Chelsea (formerly Gonca Tekiner)
acquired property having an address of 873 North Wilton Road, New Canaan, CT 06840 (the “New
Canaan Property”) from Christopher J. Leeming and Kay Leeming by way of a Warranty Deed,
for a recorded purchase price of $2,090,000. The deed was recorded with the New Canaan Town
Clerk’s Office on August 9, 2021, at Book 1047, pages 121-123. A true and accurate copy of the
recorded deed is attached hereto as Exhibit M.
21. On August 6, 2021, to secure their purchase of the New Canaan Property, David E.
Chelsea and Gonca Chelsea executed and delivered to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. an Open-End
Mortgage Deed in the amount of $1,254,000.00. The mortgage was recorded with the New Canaan
Town Clerk’s Office on August 9, 2021, at Book 1047, Pages 124-139. A true and accurate copy
of the recorded mortgage is attached hereto as Exhibit N.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that this Court grant Yasemin’s motion to
renew her prior preliminary injunction motion and on renewal: 1) order Defendants to reinstate
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Yasemin to her positions as a director and officer of Bremen and German; 2) order Defendants to
restore Yasemin’s Company salary and benefits going forward; 3) grant Yasemin back-pay and
benefits with interest extending back to the date of her wrongful termination in January 2021; and
4) grant Yasemin such other and further relief as may be just and proper.
Dated: New York, New York
March 8, 2022
Stephen P. Younger
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FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/08/2022 10:38 AM INDEX NO. 657193/2020
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 166 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/08/2022
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO COMMERCIAL DIVISION RULE 17
I hereby certify that the foregoing affirmation complies with Rule 17 of subdivision (g) of
section 202.70 of the Uniform Rules for the Supreme Court and County Court (Rules of Practice
for the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court), and has a word count of 1,362, which is
within the word limit of 7,000.
Dated: March 8, 2022
New York, New York
Stephen P. Younger
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Preview
FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/08/2022 10:38 AM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 166 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/08/2022 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COMMERCIAL DIVISION: NEW YORK COUNTY -------------------------------------------------------------- x YASEMIN TEKINER, in her individual capacity, : as a beneficiary and a Trustee of The Yasemin : Tekiner 2011 Descendants Trust and derivatively as : a holder of equitable interests in a shareholder or a : Index No.: 657193/2020 member of the Company Defendants, : Plaintiff, : Motion Seq. No.: : - against – : : AFFIRMATION OF BREMEN HOUSE INC., BREMEN HOUSE : STEPHEN P. YOUNGER TEXAS, INC., GERMAN NEWS COMPANY, : INC., GERMAN NEWS TEXAS, INC., 254 - 258 : W. 35TH ST. LLC, BERRIN TEKINER, GONCA : TEKINER, and BILLUR AKIPEK, in her capacity : as a Trustee of The Yasemin Tekiner 2011 : Descendants Trust, : Defendants. : -------------------------------------------------------------- x STEPHEN P. YOUNGER, Esq., an attorney duly admitted to practice before the Courts of the State of New York, affirms under the penalty of perjury, pursuant to CPLR § 2106 as follows: 1. I am a member of the law firm Foley Hoag LLP, attorneys for Plaintiff Yasemin Tekiner (“Plaintiff” or “Yasemin”) in the above-captioned matter. I submit this affirmation in support of Plaintiff’s Order to Show Cause for Leave to Renew Her Motion for a Preliminary Injunction pursuant to CPLR § 2221(e). 2. I am fully familiar with the facts and circumstances of this action, as set forth herein, by virtue of my personal involvement as counsel and a review of the case files. 3. After Plaintiff’s initial motion seeking preliminary relief was decided in January 2020, discovery proceeded in this matter but not without considerable resistance from Defendants. Defendants have repeatedly interfered with Plaintiff’s ability to take depositions, including from third-party witnesses, and have repeatedly failed to produce responsive documents, including 1 of 7 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/08/2022 10:38 AM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 166 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/08/2022 withholding documents that are the subject of multiple pending requests before the Court under Commercial Division Rule 14. 4. Plaintiff’s pursuit of requested documents through many months of discovery revealed that Defendants had either withheld large volumes of damaging texts and emails from their initial productions or that documents they produced had been improperly redacted. Defendants’ abuse of the discovery process has inhibited our ability to prosecute this case. Nonetheless, as described below and in the accompanying affidavit of Plaintiff, discovery has produced substantial evidence of Defendants’ looting and mismanagement of the Company, which was unavailable at the time Plaintiff originally filed for preliminary relief. 5. Notably, despite Plaintiff’s legitimate request for the Company’s financial statements to present, Defendants have declined to produce the Company’s current financial information. 6. On December 22, 2021, months after a subpoena was issued and only after numerous emails were exchanged insisting that the deposition go forward, I took the deposition of Zeynep Tekiner (“Zeynep”) by Zoom. A true and accurate copy of excerpts from that deposition transcript is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 7. At Zeynep’s deposition, defense counsel filled large portions of Plaintiff’s deposition time with numerous speaking objections. As a result, defense counsel improperly cut the deposition well short of the full seven hours afforded to Plaintiff to question Zeynep under the Commercial Division Rules. I was thus unable to explore topics fully, such as Defendant Berrin Tekiner’s (“Berrin”) pressuring of her daughter, Zeynep, to sign a consent to Yasemin’s firing and related topics. 2 2 of 7 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/08/2022 10:38 AM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 166 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/08/2022 8. Despite my inability to depose Zeynep fully, the deposition testimony exposed information which, when combined with the other proof submitted on this motion, warrants renewal of Yasemin’s injunction motion. Moreover, given the lack of a full opportunity to depose her, I believe that Zeynep has further information that would cast serious doubts on the propriety of my client’s termination from her positions with the Company. 9. On December 8, 2021, co-counsel, Evan Mandel, Esq., took the Zoom deposition of Defendant, Billur Akipek (“Billur”), who is an officer of Bremen House Inc. (“Bremen”), an officer and director of German News Company, Inc. (“German”) and the sole remaining member of the trust committee for Yasemin’s trust, which own one-third of the shares of the Company. A true and accurate copy of excerpts from that deposition transcript is attached hereto as Exhibit B. 10. During the course of discovery, Defendants produced an undated document which purported to show the consent of the Bremen shareholders to removing Yasemin from her role as a director of Bremen, bearing Bates Numbers Brem00278777-83. A true and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit C. 11. Also during the course of discovery, Defendants produced a text message dated December 28, 2020 in which Defendant Billur advised a family friend that “now, is the worst possible time to sell” New York real estate, bearing Bates Numbers Brem00289179-80. A true and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit D. 12. During discovery, Defendants produced an email dated January 23, 2021, bearing Bates Number Brem00322199, in which Billur directed a Company employee Angela Duschaj (“Angela”), to clean up glass in her mother’s bathtub. A true and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit E. 3 3 of 7 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/08/2022 10:38 AM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 166 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/08/2022 13. During discovery, Defendants produced an email dated January 3, 2021, bearing Bates Number Brem00321805, in which Angela asked Billur what time “you guys” are leaving because Angela is “going to clean moms [sic] apartment.” A true and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit F. 14. During discovery, Defendants produced an email dated January 2, 2021, bearing Bates Number Brem00321781, in which Billur asked Angela to bring her mother cat food. A true and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit G. 15. During discovery, Defendants produced an email dated October 1, 2020, bearing Bates Number Brem00320072, discussing Angela doing laundry for Billur’s mother. A true and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit H. 16. During discovery, Defendants produced an accounting of Berrin’s officer loan transactions with the Company as of December 31, 2020, bearing Bates Number Brem000330046. A true and accurate copy of this document is attached hereto as Exhibit I. 17. A search conducted on New York City’s Automated City Register Information System (“ACRIS”), publicly available at https://a836-acris.nyc.gov/DS/DocumentSearch/Index, revealed a deed for 124 East 79th Street, Units 12C and 12D, New York, New York 10075 (Block 1413, Lots 1044 and 1051) (the “East 79th Street Property”). The deed reflects that Berrin purchased in her individual capacity apartments 12C and 12D located at 124 East 79th Street, New York, New York 10075 (Block 1413, Lots 1044 and 1051) for a recorded purchase price of $2,800,000 (the ”Deed”). The Deed was recorded against both parcels on August 30, 2021, under CRFN 2021000341326. A true and accurate copy of the recorded Deed is attached hereto as Exhibit J. 4 4 of 7 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/08/2022 10:38 AM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 166 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/08/2022 18. According to ACRIS, a title search for the East 79th Street Property does not reflect that any mortgage has been recorded on that property. A true and accurate copy of a screenshot from ACRIS reflecting the search results as of March 2, 2022 for the East 79th Street Property is attached hereto as Exhibit K. 19. According to real estate records from Westchester Records Online, publicly available at: https://wro.westchesterclerk.com/Login/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f, in August 2017, a company called Bremen House Bronxville LLC purchased a property located at 81 Tanglewyde Ave. in Bronxville, N.Y. for a recorded purchase price of $3,885,000. A true and accurate copy of that property record is attached hereto as Exhibit L. As indicated in the affidavit of Yasemin Tekiner, that property is currently listed for sale. (Yasemin Aff. ¶ 23). 20. On August 5, 2021, David E. Chelsea and Gonca Chelsea (formerly Gonca Tekiner) acquired property having an address of 873 North Wilton Road, New Canaan, CT 06840 (the “New Canaan Property”) from Christopher J. Leeming and Kay Leeming by way of a Warranty Deed, for a recorded purchase price of $2,090,000. The deed was recorded with the New Canaan Town Clerk’s Office on August 9, 2021, at Book 1047, pages 121-123. A true and accurate copy of the recorded deed is attached hereto as Exhibit M. 21. On August 6, 2021, to secure their purchase of the New Canaan Property, David E. Chelsea and Gonca Chelsea executed and delivered to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. an Open-End Mortgage Deed in the amount of $1,254,000.00. The mortgage was recorded with the New Canaan Town Clerk’s Office on August 9, 2021, at Book 1047, Pages 124-139. A true and accurate copy of the recorded mortgage is attached hereto as Exhibit N. WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that this Court grant Yasemin’s motion to renew her prior preliminary injunction motion and on renewal: 1) order Defendants to reinstate 5 5 of 7 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/08/2022 10:38 AM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 166 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/08/2022 Yasemin to her positions as a director and officer of Bremen and German; 2) order Defendants to restore Yasemin’s Company salary and benefits going forward; 3) grant Yasemin back-pay and benefits with interest extending back to the date of her wrongful termination in January 2021; and 4) grant Yasemin such other and further relief as may be just and proper. Dated: New York, New York March 8, 2022 Stephen P. Younger 6 6 of 7 FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 03/08/2022 10:38 AM INDEX NO. 657193/2020 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 166 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/08/2022 CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO COMMERCIAL DIVISION RULE 17 I hereby certify that the foregoing affirmation complies with Rule 17 of subdivision (g) of section 202.70 of the Uniform Rules for the Supreme Court and County Court (Rules of Practice for the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court), and has a word count of 1,362, which is within the word limit of 7,000. Dated: March 8, 2022 New York, New York Stephen P. Younger 7 7 of 7