LTL Prevails In $150 Million Decade-Long International Dispute
On November 8, 2021, the California Court of Appeal sided with LTL Attorneys’ client DAS Corporation, headquartered in Korea, against Optional Capital, Inc., another Korean company, in the parties’ decade-long dispute over stolen funds. The result is a complete victory for LTL’s client in the litigation.
Optional sued DAS in 2011, claiming that funds DAS had received from a Swiss bank account maintained by a third-party fraudster belonged to Optional. The fraudster had stolen funds from DAS and Optional, but DAS was the first to collect on its debt. Unable to enforce its judgment against the fraudster, Optional sued DAS for conversion, fraudulent transfer, and receipt of stolen property, seeking over $150 million—the $12.6 million DAS received, an additional $25 million allegedly owed to Optional by the fraudster (claimed to be DAS’s co-conspirator), treble damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.
In a three-week 2019 trial conducted by LTL Partners Joe Tuffaha and Prashanth Chennakesavan, with assistance from associates David Crane and Kevin Kelly, a jury rejected most of Optional’s claims, but awarded Optional $2 million after finding that DAS knowingly received stolen funds. Both sides appealed. A unanimous panel agreed with LTL, reversed the judgment, and rejected Optional’s cross-appeal.
“We couldn’t be more gratified with the Court of Appeal’s decision. This was truly a slugfest in the trial court, and while we were disappointed that the jury did not find in DAS’ favor on all of the claims, we were confident that the Court of Appeal would correct that mistake” said LTL Managing Partner David Ammons. “Joe and Prashanth, and really the entire LTL team did an outstanding job in both the trial court and the court of appeal, and we could not be prouder to continue our unbeaten streak in the state and federal courts of appeal over the last four years,” said Ammons.
