ATTORNEY Aaron Halegua wants former Imperial Pacific International LLC chair Lijie Cui to clarify “deficiencies and inconsistencies” in her declarations regarding electronically stored information or ESI.
In an email to attorney Joey San Nicolas, who represents Cui, Halegua said there were “a number of deficiencies and inconsistencies in the various declarations that have been filed by Ms. Cui. There is no explanation as to (a) why a subpoena could not have been issued several weeks ago, or (b) why the procedure used to reset Ms. Cui’s password could not have been executed several weeks ago.”
Halegua said the declarations “do not address or explain the ‘qq.com’ email address that was used to login to Ms. Cui’s iCloud account at IT&E, which was observed by Fely Forbes (an IT&E staffer).”
He said there are several references to the “original email” for the account, an “email account,” and the “Password.”
There is also reference to the “old number” and to the “current phone,” Halegua said.
“It is not clear what is being referred to by these terms or many others throughout the declarations.” Therefore, “Ms. Cui should file updated declarations that address and/or clarify these issues.”
Halegua said they will also need confirmation that Ms. Cui will pay all related costs.
“We are still awaiting your response as to how Ms. Cui will be paying the balance of the TransPerfect invoice. You originally stated that you would respond by Monday, November 8.”
The email exchange was attached to Halegua’s status report on Cui’s compliance with the court’s orders.
Halegua has also asked the court to find Cui not in compliance, saying that she has not cured her contempt. The daily fine should continue to accrue until she does, he added.
“Ms. Cui’s pattern of evasion, distraction, and disobedience continues. She will file multiple declarations about subpoenas to Apple in California, but never respond about her ‘qq.com’ account or how her phone was initialized on March 21, 2021,” Halegua said.
“Ms. Cui should be ordered (again) to file a sworn statement explaining the initialization of the phone, the iTunes account, and her ‘qq.com’ account,” he added.
He said the plaintiffs have “demonstrated and Howyo Chi (Cui’s former interpreter) admitted at the (previous) hearing that Ms. Cui’s own sworn statements filed with the court contained false statements.”
Accordingly, “as Ms. Cui’s statements under oath can hardly be trusted, unsworn filings from her attorneys (or oral representations before the court) based on what Ms. Cui or others allegedly told them are not an adequate substitute and should carry zero weight in these proceedings,” the lawyer added.
Previously, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for NMI found Cui in contempt of court, again, for failing to provide backups of her ESI and the correct login information for her iCloud account.
Cui is a third-party witness in the lawsuit of the seven construction workers against IPI and its former contractor and subcontractor, MCC International and Gold Mantis Construction Decoration, both of which have already settled with the plaintiffs: Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu, and Duxin Yan.
Halegua and attorney Bruce Berline represent the plaintiffs.
Judge Manglona has entered a $5.4 million default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs against IPI.
The judgment remains unsatisfied, and this is the reason why all ESI data held by the former IPI chair remain relevant to the proceedings, Judge Manglona said at the hearing on Wednesday.
Aaron Halegua
