Opinion
2003-02157.
Argued October 17, 2003.
November 24, 2003.
In an action to recover damages for breach of contract and fraud, the defendants Jenny Fang and Robert Chow appeal from so much of an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Satterfield, J.), dated January 28, 2003, as denied their motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint as asserted against them.
Beerman Beerman (Sweetbaum Sweetbaum, Lake Success, N.Y. [Marshall D. Sweetbaum] of counsel), for appellants.
Fischbein Badillo Wagner Harding, New York, N.Y. (Joseph J. Koltun and Bruce N. Lederman of counsel), for respondent.
Before: FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., DANIEL F. LUCIANO, ROBERT W. SCHMIDT and BARRY A. COZIER, JJ.
DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.
The Supreme Court properly found that the appellants failed to make a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law by eliminating all material issues of fact from the case ( see Winegrad v. New York Univ. Med. Ctr., 64 N.Y.2d 851, 853). It is well settled that agents or officers of a corporation may be held personally liable for their tortious acts committed in the performance of their corporate duties ( see Kopec v. Hempstead Gardens, 264 A.D.2d 714, 716; American Express Travel Related Servs. Co. v. North At. Resources, 261 A.D.2d 310, 311; Marine Midland Bank v. Russo Produce Co., 50 N.Y.2d 31, 44). The appellants, the sole shareholders and officers of the corporate defendants, negotiated the underlying transaction with the plaintiff. To the extent, if any, that there were misrepresentations made by the corporate defendants in connection with the transactions, the appellants "must have personally participated in such misrepresentations" ( Towjer, Inc. v. Tarran, 236 A.D.2d 518, 519; see First Bank of the Ams. v. Motor Car Funding, 257 A.D.2d 287, 291-292).
SANTUCCI, J.P., LUCIANO, SCHMIDT and COZIER, JJ., concur.