A Korea based company continues to seek damages in the District Court of Guam from a company it claimed reneged on a scrap-metal deal two years ago.
The company will go to court on Aug. 17 for a pretrial conference over a complaint filed in September 2003. People Holdings Co. Ltd. alleged Sun Y. Wakugawa president of Kowon Shipping Corp. entered into a deal whereby Wakugawa and Kowon Shipping would purchase Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office scrap metal on the U.S. Naval base on Guam and then resell it.
According to the complaint Wakugawa and Kowon Shipping should have sold People Holdings Co. Ltd. the scrap metal.
People Holdings Co. Ltd. alleged it initially paid $40 000 on Feb. 28 2003 to Wakugawa. People Holdings Co. Ltd. claimed it then deposited an additional $92 500 in a Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office account in Bupyong Korea.
The complaint also stated the People Holdings Co. Ltd. as the buyer and Wakugawa as president of Sino Trading Guam Inc. entered into a contract for the purchase and sale of DRMO scrap metal on the U.S. Naval base on Guam. According to the plaintiffs the defendants received from People Holdings about $17 500 in April 2003. People Holdings claimed it sent via wire transfer to the defendant $56 000.
The complaint stated “On April 22 defendants sent plaintiff the notice of cancellation saying that defendants decided to cancel loading operations. In the notice of cancellation the sum of $176 803.06 was found to be due from plaintiff to defendant but all of the items mentioned in the notice were wrongfully and fraudulently charged against plaintiff by defendant.”
The letter from Kowon Shipping reads “Please let this serve as a notice that I have reluctantly decided to cancel loading operations of the M/V Pan Bright.
“Based on our contract No. PHD030410 with the attached special conditions you have not met your commitment concerning payment for the scrap and I have further been unable to verify any L/C’s as mutually agreed although we have been ready for loading since 21 April 2003.
“Additionally this breach of contract on your part has resulted in substantial costs for the removal of cargo from DRMO Guam.”
The letter indicates trucking from DRMO to the staging and storage site totaled $40 000 loading fees at the Port Authority of Guam plus 20% standby and penalty totaled $76 950 scrap storage fees totaled $12 000 trucking to the port totaled $30 000 cancellation fees totaled $8 000 and a non-ferrous shipment invoice dated Dec. 4 2002 totaled $9 853.
“Up to April 22 2003 defendants have received an advance payment of $206 000 but defendants have/has breached the contract by failing to ship DRMO metal scrap to the plaintiff or attempting to sell DRMO metal scrap to another company ” People Holdings said in the complaint.
People Holdings alleged it was damaged for an additional amount of $200 000 because it had arranged for a vessel to pick up the scrap metal. MBJ
