Trader who couldn’t be found by process server surfaces

A Chinese businessman involved in a legal dispute for ownership of $224,585 in a company’s savings account has surfaced to oppose a request to hold him in default for not answering a counterclaim.

In his declaration filed in federal court on Thursday, Mingnan Jin said he did not sign the U.S. Postal Service mail receipt relating to a summons dated Oct. 23, 2015. He said the signature on the receipt belongs to his brother, Jin Mingjin.

Jin said he was not physically present in the CNMI on Oct. 23, 2015, as he was in China to renew his U.S. visa. He said he left Saipan for China on Sept. 18, 2015, and returned on Nov. 27, 2015.

Jin said he did not receive the papers associated with the Oct. 23, 2015, certified mail receipt.

He said when he returned to Saipan on Nov. 27, 2015, he was given some papers by his brother, which he did not understand as it was in English.

A few days later, he said, he brought the papers to his company’s legal counsel for review.

Jin asked the court to deny the motion for entry of default as he was not properly served.

Jin’s brother, Mingjin Jin, also issued a declaration to corroborate his statement about receiving the mail in his (Mingjin) and wife’s postal box.

Attorney Samuel I. Mok, counsel for plaintiff Universal Group Development Inc. (Saipan), attached the declarations of the Jin brothers in Universal Group’s opposition to the motion for entry of default against Mingnan Jin.

Mok said cross-claimant Wanzhong Yu failed to satisfy the provision to issue entry of default because Mingnan Jin never actually received the certified mail containing the cross-claim against him.

Mok said it was the brother, Mingjin Jin, who signed the cross-defendant’s name because he mistakenly thought he was required to do so based on his conversation with a U.S. Post Office employee.

Process server Rainaldo S. Agulto had declared in September that he failed to locate Mingnan Jin to serve Yu’s summons and complaint.

Mingnan Jin and Jinwei Guo are claiming they are the officers and directors of Universal Group and that Guo is now the sole shareholder.

Universal Group, through counsel Mok, is suing its former president and shareholder, Yu, for conversion and the First Hawaiian Bank for breach of contract. Universal Group alleged that Yu and the bank have blocked the company from gaining access to its $225,000 of its own funds from a business savings account.

Yu filed a cross-claim, alleging he was detained in China for 22 months caused by political influence exerted by his former business partners. Yu named Mingnan Jin and Jinwei Guo as defendants in his cross-claim.