July 23, 2021
Publication: New York Law Journal
“Mr. Spackman is running out of places to hide,” Kobre & Kim’s John Han told New York Law Journal after a New York state appeals court ruled businessman Charles Spackman was rightfully held in civil contempt for not complying with a subpoena, part of a long-running global enforcement campaign on behalf of Korean investor Sang Cheol Woo to collect over US $10 million owed by Mr. Spackman.
The New York Appellate Division, First Department court held that Mr. Spackman’s reliance on the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse for noncompliance fell short, since the subpoena was served in June 2019, and he was offered the option to appear at his contempt hearing via videoconference.
Following the judgment, Mr. Han told the Journal, “Mr. Spackman has tried for nearly 10 years to avoid paying what he owes to Mr. Woo, and we are pleased that the First Department is holding him to account by affirming his ongoing contempt of court. Between these proceedings and ongoing enforcement actions in Hong Kong and Singapore (as well as Korea, where the whole saga started), Mr. Spackman is running out of places to hide.”
The dispute arose when Mr. Spackman allegedly merged a company Mr. Woo invested in with a “paper” company the former controlled, transferring value away from Mr. Woo. Mr. Spackman fled South Korea for Hong Kong when Korean authorities went after him, and the Korean High Court eventually entered the now US $10 million judgment against him. Mr. Woo has since pursued actions against Mr. Spackman in various jurisdictions, including New York.
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