In a case filed on April 26, 2024, Qiao Chen et al. are suing Fang Zeng in the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Appellate District (Case ID: B332009). The lawsuit stems from allegations of fraudulent operations within an immigrant investor pilot program known as EB-5.
The plaintiffs, represented by Kingswood Law and Jing Wang, initiated the lawsuit in January 2018 against California Investment Immigration Fund (CIIF), Victoria Chan, Tat Chan, and Fang Zeng. They alleged that Fang Zeng was one of the owners and operators of CIIF in San Gabriel, California. The complaint detailed multiple causes of action arising from purported fraudulent operation of a regional center within the EB-5 program.
Fang Zeng was served by publication after several unsuccessful attempts to locate her for personal service. The trial court granted a default judgment against Fang Zeng and co-defendants in April 2019, awarding each plaintiff over $2 million.
The plaintiffs are seeking to uphold the default judgment. However, Fang Zeng has moved to set aside the defaults and dismiss the lawsuit on several grounds including lack of personal jurisdiction and ineffective service of process. She is represented by Paul Kujawsky.
Justices Lui, Chavez and Hoffstadt all concur that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in setting aside the default judgment. It had properly determined that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over Fang Zeng thus, as a matter of law, the default judgment was void.