Preview:

Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County, April 14, 2004
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL
Phillips Lytle LLP (Meredith Friedman of counsel), for defendant. Jomo Sanga Thoms for plaintiffs.
{**3 Misc 3d at 1033} OPINION OF THE COURT
Jack M. Battaglia, J.
In two separate actions, Bertram V. Crick and Elsa V. Webb are seeking to recover from HSBC Bank USA (the Bank) the face amounts of four checks, totaling $31,500, that they delivered to Daniel Stern, an attorney, and that Mr. Stern deposited with the Bank. The indorsed complaint of Bertram V. Crick, doing business as Val Crick's Real Estate, states the nature and substance of the cause of action as "loss of money due to misappropriation of funds." The indorsed complaint of Bertram V. Crick and Elsa V. Webb reads likewise, but adds "possible collusion" of the Bank with Mr. Stern. The indorsed complaints were filed by the respective plaintiffs before they were represented by counsel.
The four checks were issued in connection with the contemplated purchase and sale of several parcels of real property owned by sellers represented by Mr. Stern. One of the checks was {**3 Misc 3d at 1034}drawn on an account maintained by Val Crick's Real Estate with Chase Manhattan Bank, was payable to the order of "Slovak and Stern Esq.," and shows an address on the "memo" line. The other three checks were drawn on one of the two accounts maintained by Ms. Webb with Dime Savings Bank of New York, were payable to "Slovak and Stern Esq.," or "[unintelligible] Slovak

Download 2004_24117.pdf

New York Law