Matter of Agai v. Diontech Consulting, Inc.

Summary

The New York Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed an order granting petitioners summary judgment to enforce judgments against Stylianos Antoniou and Sokrates Antoniou personally by piercing Diontech Consulting, Inc.'s corporate veil. The court found evidence of domination, failure to observe corporate formalities, misuse of corporate funds, and asset stripping that left the corporation unable to pay its creditors.

Holdings

1. Petitioners established that the appellants exercised complete domination over Diontech with respect to the transactions at issue and used that domination to commit a wrong that injured petitioners; therefore, the judgments could be enforced against the appellants personally by piercing Diontech's corporate veil.
2. The appellants' self-serving affidavits, which contradicted their prior deposition testimony, were insufficient to raise a triable issue of fact and did not defeat petitioners' motion for summary judgment.
3. The appellants were not entitled to summary judgment because they failed to demonstrate their prima facie entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.

Questions Presented

1. Whether petitioners established the elements necessary to pierce Diontech Consulting, Inc.'s corporate veil and enforce the judgments personally against the appellants.
2. Whether the appellants' contradictory, self-serving affidavits raised a triable issue of fact sufficient to defeat petitioners' motion for summary judgment.
3. Whether the appellants established prima facie entitlement to summary judgment dismissing the petition as against them.

Disposition

affirmed