Suits Filed Against Kenpo
Kenpo Inc.—the Los Angeles company known for its iPod jacket, unveiled in 2005, as well as its collection of jeans, shirts and urban fleecewear—is being sued by several companies claiming they are owed thousands of dollars for various services.
Filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the plaintiffs range from an insurance company that guarantees customs duties to a cardboard-box company.
The legal actions are part of at least a dozen lawsuits filed against the company in the last three years seeking payment of overdue bills. Most of those lawsuits have been dismissed or settled out of court. But three cases are waiting to be resolved, with a fourth recently settled.
Kenpo’s attorney, Abraham Mathew, did not return phone calls or an e-mail.
To distribute or not to distribute
Cut Line International, a Los Angeles clothing importer and wholesaler, is suing Kenpo for breach of contract and fraud, trying to recuperate at least $150,000 in money Cut Line said it loaned Kenpo, according to court papers.
The case was filed in late 2005 and is scheduled for trial Nov. 14.
“Many times people are eager to settle, but in this case, it is silence,” said attorney Fred Wong, whose law firm is representing Cut Line. “We are headed to trial.”
The case started when Cut Line said it met Ken Singh, head of Kenpo, at a MAGIC Marketplace show in Las Vegas in August 2005. According to court papers, Kenpo allegedly talked about Cut Line becoming a national distributor for Kenpo’s women’s, men’s, boys’ and girls’ fleecewear to all retail outlets except major department stores. Kenpo also allegedly promised Cut Line it could distribute all Kenpo’s orders written at MAGIC.
Cut Line maintains that Kenpo asked the importer to rent warehouse space to receive the orders, which it did, signing a one-year warehouse lease for $3,700 a month.
In early September, Cut Line gave Kenpo a check for $200,274 as a good-faith deposit on the goods to be delivered, the lawsuit said. The next day, Singh met with two of Cut Line’s shareholders and allegedly informed them they would only be the Los Angeles distributors.
With that, Kenpo sent over a shipment to Cut Line’s warehouse, but it allegedly was only boys’ wear and didn’t contain all the sizes, styles or colors requested.
A second shipment was sent over, but this time it contained only ladies’ sizes in a limited color selection, according to the lawsuit. One style Cut Line had specifically ordered was not in the shipment, court papers said.
Cut Line stopped payment on its $200,274 check. Kenpo then allegedly told Cut Line the company was having a cash-flow problem and asked if Cut Line could loan Kenpo the money. Cut Line agreed, court documents said.
Kenpo promised to repay the loan in three post-dated checks, Cut Line said. The first check cleared, but Kenpo put a stop order on the second two checks, the lawsuit said.
Cut Line is suing Kenpo for breach of contract for not making Cut Line its national distributor on certain fleecewear and not paying back $150,000 of the $200,274 loaned.
Fight over customes tees
In a second lawsuit, Aegis Security Insurance Co., which issues customs bonds, maintains that Kenpo and other Singh-affiliated companies—including Anant Fashions Inc., Pear Connections Inc. and R.S. Apparel Corp.—did not repay at least $350,000 in customs fees covered by Aegis, said Aegis’ attorney, Stephen Bucklin.
According to court papers filed in May 2006, the defendants imported goods into the United States, posting customs bonds issued by Aegis to cover any import obligations, such as tariffs owed the government.
After customs investigated the entries, customs assessed and billed the defendants for additional duties, the lawsuit said. But Aegis maintains the defendants refused to pay the additional duties, with customs demanding that Aegis pay them, which it said it did.
A trial has been scheduled for Jan. 3.
Seeking settlements
In a third lawsuit filed March 25, the Packaging Corp. of America, based in Lake Forest, Ill., sued Kenpo Jeans Inc. for at least $54,900 for not paying the rest of a $73,246 bill for packaging and corrugated materials. The court case has been assigned to a mediator.
And in a fourth lawsuit, The Rio Design Group Inc. in Santa Monica, Calif., said Kenpo still owed it $91,285 for trade-show booths constructed for the MAGIC Marketplace and Project Global Trade Show in Las Vegas in February 2004. Kenpo filed a cross complaint, which was later dismissed, claiming it had already paid $50,000 for the booths, which it believed was the full amount.
The Rio Design Group’s attorney, David Bower, said the issue was settled recently, but no dollar amount was disclosed. “All I can say is my client did receive some money,” Bower said.
