Subpoena issued to Apple Inc. to access Cui’s iCloud

The lawyers of former Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC chair Cui Li Jie have issued a subpoena for Apple Inc. in an attempt to purge the former IPI chair from the NMI District Court’s previous contempt order in regards to her iCloud password.

According to the subpoena issued by Cui’s lawyer, Joey San Nicolas, Apple is ordered to produce documents, information, or objects in the civil action no later than Nov. 30.

San Nicolas said the subpoena was issued to Apple last Nov. 5, commanding the preservation and/or delivery of Cui’s data in her iCloud account.

On Nov. 7, San Nicolas, Cui, and her translator, How Yo Chi, met via Zoom with Somcham Teddy Estrellido to discuss the resetting of Cui’s iCloud password. Through Estrellido Chi’s efforts, Cui was able to successfully reset her iCloud password.

On the morning of Nov. 8, San Nicolas said he emailed the plaintiffs’ attorneys informing them of the new iCloud password.

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona Manglona set the matter for a status conference on Nov. 12, at 8am.

According to Saipan Tribune archives, the U.S. District Court for the NMI found Cui in contempt for failing to provide the correct login information to her iCloud account.

During the status conference last Friday, Cui’s lawyer, attorney Clyde Lemons, reported to the court via teleconference of his efforts in retrieve backup ESI data and gave notice of their intention to issue a subpoena.

After Manglona entered a contempt order against Cui, she then ordered Lemons to effectuate the issuance of the subpoena.

San Nicolas, who also represents Cui, told the court that he will assist as local counsel in issuing the subpoena to comply with the court’s order.

The plaintiffs, through attorney Aaron Halegua, have accused Cui of violating the contempt order previously issued by the court in the lawsuit of seven workers alleging labor abuses and human trafficking.

The plaintiffs in this case are Tianming Wang, Dong Han, Yongjun Meng, Liangcai Sun, Youli Wang, Qingchun Xu, and Duxin Yan. They are represented by Halegua and Bruce Berline.

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.