In Re: Kwok

── In Re: Kwok ── Case No.: 24-2504 Court: Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Date: April 06, 2026 Category: General 24-2504 In re: Kwok United States Court of Appeals For the Second Circuit August Term 2025 Argued: December 10, 2025 Decided: April 6, 2026 No. 24-2504 IN RE: KWOK HO WAN KWOK, Debtor, MEI GUO, Counter-Defendant-Appellant, HK INTERNATIONAL FUNDS INVESTMENTS (USA) LIMITED, LLC, Plaintiff-Counter-Defendant-Appellant, v. LUC A. DESPINS, Chapter 11 Trustee, Defendant-Counter-Claimant-Appellee,  UNITED STATES TRUSTEE, Trustee. 1 Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut No. 23-cv-458, Kari A. Dooley, Judge. Before: CHIN, SULLIVAN, and LEE, Circuit Judges. Mei Guo and HK International Funds Investments (USA) Limited, LLC (“HK”) – third parties in a Chapter Eleven bankruptcy filed by an individual debtor – appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Dooley, J.) affirming the bankruptcy court’s conclusion that HK was an alter ego of the debtor and that HK’s assets therefore belonged to the bankruptcy estate. On appeal, Guo and HK argue that the Trustee did not have standing to assert the alter-ego claim on behalf of the bankruptcy estate’s creditors and that, in any event, HK was not the debtor’s alter ego. As an initial matter, we conclude that we have jurisdiction to hear this appeal. Although the district court’s decision was not final when this appeal was filed, the Trustee agreed during oral argument to dismiss his remaining claims with prejudice, making the district court’s summary judgment decision an appealable final order. Turning to the merits, we agree with the district court that the Trustee has standing to assert an alter-ego claim on behalf of the creditors and that the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn from the record is that HK is the debtor’s alter ego. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court. AFFIRMED. STEPHEN M. KINDSETH (James M. Moriarty, Daniel A. Byrd, on the brief), Zeisler & Zeisler, P.C., Bridgeport, CT, for Counter- 1 The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to amend the caption as set forth above. 2  Defendant-Appellant and Plaintiff-Counter- Defendant-Appellant. NICHOLAS BASSETT (Dennis M. Carnelli, Neubert, Pepe & Monteith, P.C., New Haven, CT, on the brief), Paul Hastings, LLP, Washington, D.C., for Defendants- Appellants. RICHARD J. SULLIVAN, Circuit Judge: Mei Guo and HK International Funds Investments (USA) Limited, LLC (“HK”) – third parties in a Chapter Eleven bankruptcy filed by an individual debtor – appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut (Dooley, J.) affirming the bankruptcy court’s conclusion that HK was an alter ego of the debtor and that HK’s assets therefore belonged to the bankruptcy estate. On appeal, Guo and HK argue that the Trustee did not have standing to assert the alter-ego claim on behalf of the bankruptcy estate’s creditors and that, in any event, HK was not the debtor’s