Court Grants Trustee’s Motion to Subpoena 67 Individuals Related to Miles Guo

A remote conference court hearing was held on Tuesday, August 12th, EDT, by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut approved two motions submitted on July 28th by Luc A. Despins, the appointed trustee for Miles Guo‘s Chapter 11 case.

One of the Despins’ two omnibus motions seeks authorization to discover Miles’ affiliated “various legal and financial advisors” and the other seeks to discover Miles’ affiliated “various entities and individuals”.

At the start of the roughly hour-long hearing, Despins suggested that, in order to expedite the legal process, the Connecticut Bankruptcy Court should also be the competent court for another case, the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed by Genever Holdings LLC (Gevener U.S.). Miles’ counsel stated that they are not completely opposed to the transfer of the competent court but that it will depend on the decision of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, where the Genever US case is located.

There is also a disagreement between Miles’ counsel and trustee over the Bankruptcy Rule 2004. Examination. Regarding the Federal bankruptcy rules, “the court may for cause shown and on terms as it may impose order the debtor to be examined under this rule at any time or place it designates, whether within or without the district wherein the case is pending”.

Miles’ counsel stated that the above clause is inapplicable due to the attorney-client privilege; the trustee’s counsel, a representative of Paul Hastings LLP, argued that an appointed trustee is granted all management rights of the debtor’s assets, which should have been “no assertion of privilege”, also alleging that Miles’ counsel was unable to efficiently provide requested documentation to support the discovery. The Court ordered the trustee to revise the motion’s wording in the definition of the “scope” of the discovery before next Monday and submit it to the dockets again.

In Despins’ motion, 67 individuals are mentioned in his request for authorization of the discovery, including “34 Miles-related persons, 14 Miles-related lawyers, and 19 other Miles-related staff and persons”, who are Miles’ family members, fellow fighters of the Whistleblower Movement, and individuals who have worked with Miles, including his ex-employees and business partners. Through a live broadcast, some fellow fighters expressed their willingness to cooperate with the presumably upcoming court summons for the examination, and their trust in the U.S. judicial system in the battle against the trustee’s non-differentiated discrimination and the Chinese Communist Party’s unrestricted legal warfare.