In re: Larisa Ivanovna Markus
- Case Type:
- Business
- Case Status:
- Affirmed
- Citation:
- 21-2238 (2nd Circuit, Aug 30,2023) Published
- Tag(s):
-
- Ruling:
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed two orders of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (DC) finding that the district's bankruptcy court (BC) has--and therefore properly exercised--the authority to issue civil contempt sanctions, including per diem sanctions and attorneys' fees, arising out of a contemnor's failure to comply with the bankruptcy court's orders.
- Procedural context:
- After Victor A. Worms, (Worms), an attorney, represented Larisa Ivanovna Markus (DR), a chapter 15 debtor whose case had been commenced by Yuri Vladimirovich Rozhkov, acting as Markus's Foreign Representative (the FR), failed to comply with a series of discovery orders, the BC imposed sanctions of, inter alia, $55,000 for 55 days of non-compliance and $36,600 in attorneys' fees. The DC affirmed. Worms appealed to the Second Circuit on two bases: (1) the BC lacked inherent authority to issue civil contempt sanctions, and (2) as a matter of due process, he was not provided with sufficient notice of the basis for the sanctions imposed against him.
- Facts:
- Markus is a Russian citizen who was the founder of Vneshprombank, Ltd. (Vneshprombank), one of Russia's largest banks. She served as its president from 1995 through 2016. On March 11, 2016, the Moscow Arbitration Court declared Vneshprombank insolvent and commenced bankruptcy proceedings against it. Eventually, the Moscow Arbitration Court appointed Rozhkov, the appellee here, to preside over the liquidation of Markus's assets. Under Russian bankruptcy law, Rozhkov is responsible for pursuing actions against persons or entities that contributed to Markus's insolvency. On May 12, 2017, Markus was convicted in a Russian tribunal for embezzling approximately $2 billion from Vneshprombank
- Judge(s):
- Dennis Jacobs; Denny Chin; and Beth Robinson
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