National Bank Trust v. Yurov

Citations

• 210 Conn. App. 776

Syllabus

The plaintiff bank sought to enforce a foreign judgment against the defendant B, a shareholder of the plaintiff. The plaintiff had commenced an action in England against the defendant and various codefendants, seeking damages for moneys owed to it in connection with fraudulent loans or fraudulent transactions made by the defendant. The English court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff, finding that the plaintiff had suffered significant losses as a result of fraud perpetrated by the defendant and his codefendants. The plaintiff filed a certification of the foreign judgment, signed by the plaintiff's counsel, in the Superior Court pursuant to the applicable statutes (§§ 50a-33 and 52-605 (a)). The defen- dant filed a motion to open and either dismiss or stay the enforcement of the certified foreign judgment, arguing, inter alia, that the trial court improperly concluded that the certified judgment was a foreign judgment as defined by statute (§ 50a-31 (2)), and that the certification required by § 52-605 (a) may be signed by counsel rather than the judgment creditor. The defendant further argued that the contract between the plaintiff and the defendant required that all disputes be resolved in accordance with Russian law in Russian courts. Subsequently, the plain- tiff filed an objection to the defendant's motion and attached exhibit A, an order by the English court with two schedules, which set forth transactions and monetary amounts that corresponded with the amounts set forth in the English court's judgment. The trial court denied the defendant's motion, from which the defendant appealed to this court. Held: 1. There was no merit to the defendant's claim that the trial court erred in concluding that the certified judgment was a foreign judgment as defined by § 50a-31 (2) because it did not grant the recovery of a sum of money: the plaintiff's claim against the defendant arose from financial losses that it suffered as a result of the defendant's fraudulent