New Class Action Settlement For Marcos HR Victims The following document was sent to us by Counsels for the Class suit Victims Robert Swift and Rod Domingo with regards to the new settlement on the recovered stolen Monet paintings: “(T)he eligible victims who will be granted a second round of compensation upon approval of the Agreement by Judge Manuel L. Real of the U. S. District Court of Hawaii. …the said copies of the Notices to be mailed to qualified class members by Friday, August 23. The hearing for the approval of the Settlement Agreement is on October 10, 10:30 a.m., at the Courtroom of Judge Real in Honolulu, Hawaii.” Copy of translated Notice in Pilipino available here : Tagalog version of Notice of Class Action Settlement IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF HAWAII } IN RE: } } ESTATE OF FERDINAND E. MARCOS } MDL NO. 840 HUMAN RIGHTS LITIGATION } No. 86-390 } No. 86-330 } } THIS DOCUMENT RELATES TO: } } Hilao et al v. Estate of Ferdinand } E. Marcos, } and } DeVera et al v. Estate of Ferdinand} E. Marcos. } } NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT TO: ALL CLASS MEMBERS This notice is sent pursuant to the Order of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii to inform you that (1) the Court will decide whether a settlement between the Class and the owner of a painting formerly the property of Imelda Marcos is fair, reasonable and adequate, (2) the Court will decide whether Class Counsel’s second interim request for an award of fees and reimbursement of expenses is reasonable, and (3) the Court will decide whether the request for an incentive award to a Class Representative is reasonable. BACKGROUND In April 1986 a proceeding was commenced against Ferdinand E. Marcos in Hawaii Federal Court on behalf of a Class of 9,539 Philippine citizens (or their heirs) who had been tortured, summarily executed or disappeared during the Marcos rule between September 1972 and February 1986. The Estate of Ferdinand E. Marcos (the “Marcos Estate”) was substituted as defendant upon Marcos’s death in 1989. Following trials in 1992, 1994 and 1995, the Hawaii Federal Court entered judgment on February 3, 1995 in favor of the Class in the amount of US$1,964,000,000. Class Counsel actively pursued collection of the 1995 Judgment, but were hindered by the concealment of assets belonging to the Marcos Estate. The Marcos Estate and its representatives, Imelda R. Marcos and Ferdinand R. Marcos, were found in contempt of Court for their conduct. In January 2011 the Court entered a judgment on contempt against the Marcos Estate, Imelda R. Marcos and Ferdinand R. Marcos for US$353,600,000 (the “Judgment”). THE LITIGATION IN NEW YORK In November 2012, the District Attorney for New York County unsealed an indictment against Vilma Bautista, a former personal assistant to Imelda Marcos. The indictment alleged that Bautista sold a valuable impressionist painting (the “Painting”) owned by Imelda Marcos to an unknown buyer – but without the authority of Imelda Marcos – for US$32,000,000. Within 10 days, Class Counsel filed a lawsuit against Bautista in New York Supreme Court seeking the Painting, other artwork owned by Imelda Marcos, and the proceeds from the sale of the Painting. As Class Counsel was preparing to file a second lawsuit against others involved in the sale of the Painting, discussions ensued between Class Counsel and the purchaser/owner of the Painting. In June 2013, the owner of the Painting agreed to pay to the Class US$10,000,000. THE SETTLEMENT Class counsel have concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Class to settle any claim the Class may have against the owner. Class Counsel engaged in arm’s length settlement negotiations with counsel for the owner before the parties concluded a Settlement Agreement pursuant to which US$10,000,000 was deposited into the Class’ Settlement Fund in the Hawaii Federal Court (the “Fund”). In exchange for this payment, the Class and its members will release the owner from any and all claims regarding the Painting. The Settlement Agreement further provides that the Class and its members will not commence a lawsuit against the art gallery which sold the Painting to the owner. The Settlement Agreement further provides that the Class may sue all other persons involved in the illegal sale of the Painting, and Class Counsel is doing that. The Settlement Agreement has been filed under seal with the Court in accordance with the terms of the Agreement. The Court has reviewed the Settlement Agreement and given its preliminary approval to the Settlement. All material provisions of the Settlement Agreement have been disclosed herein. Class Counsel and the Class Representative, Jose Duran, consider the terms of this Settlement Agreement to be fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Class. Among the considerations which affected their decision to settle were: the difficulty of suing the owner; the fair market value of the Painting; the uncertainty of success at trial or on appeal; the delay and expense entailed by trial and appeal; and the need of Class members to receive a second distribution after 27 years of hard fought litigation which began in 1986. Class Counsel are engaged in other litigation on behalf of the Class including litigation against others involved in the sale of the Painting. Class Counsel will continue to seek to locate and execute on Marcos assets in satisfaction of the Judgment. HEARING The Hawaii Court will hold a Hearing on October 10, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. At that Hearing the Court will consider whether to finally approve the Settlement Agreement as fair, reasonable and adequate. The Hearing will be held in the Courtroom of the Honorable Manuel L. Real, United States Courthouse, Honolulu, Hawaii. YOU NEED NOT APPEAR AT THE HEARING OR TAKE ANY OTHER ACTION IF YOU APPROVE OF, OR DO NOT OBJECT TO, THE SETTLEMENT, THE APPLICATION OF CLASS COUNSEL FOR ATTORNEYS FEES AND EXPENSES OR THE INCENTIVE FEE TO THE CLASS REPRESENTATIVE. Any member of the class may appear at the Hearing and show cause, if any, why the Settlement Agreement, counsel fees and expenses, and incentive fee should not be approved by the Court. No person will be heard at the Hearing unless a written notice of intention to appear, stating all grounds for the objection or other statement of position, together with all supporting papers and briefs, are sent to the Clerk of the Court by first-class mail and received no later than September 20, 2013 at the following address: Clerk of the Court United States Courthouse 300 Ala Moana Boulevard Honolulu, Hawaii 96850 The envelopes and objections must bear the caption: “Marcos Human Rights litigation, MDL No. 840 (D. HI).” A copy of such papers must be served by first class mail upon Class Counsel and received no later than September 20, 2013 at the following address: Robert A. Swift, Esquire Kohn, Swift & Graf, P.C. 1 South Broad Street, 21st Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 DISTRIBUTION OF THE FUND Should the Court grant final approval to the Settlement Agreement, the proceeds from the Settlement, US$10 million, will become the property of the Fund. The Hawaii Federal Court will distribute the Fund (less administrative costs of the distribution, counsel fees, incentive award, and expenses) to the Class Members. The Hawaii Federal Court has not yet decided distribution issues, so you should not assume you will receive any specific amount or when distribution will be made. However, Class Counsel will request the Court to make a distribution of US$1,000 to eligible Class members from the Settlement proceeds in 2014. The Hawaii Federal Court will make distributions to individual Class members directly, not through intermediaries, as it did in early 2011. Consistent with its prior Orders, the Hawaii Federal Court will not recognize the validity of special powers of attorney solicited by certain persons and groups. ELIGIBILITY OF CLASS MEMBERS Not all of the original Class Members are eligible to receive payment. The Hawaii Federal Court required Class Members in both 1993 and 1999 to submit Claim Forms. Only those Class Members who submitted complete Claim Forms in each of those years will be eligible to receive payment. It is too late to submit or supplement a Claim Form. APPLICATION FOR AN AWARD OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND EXPENSES In more than 27 years of litigation, Class Counsel have advanced all litigation expenses and have only received a single prior interim payment of counsel fees and expenses. Class Counsel will request the Hawaii Federal Court to render a second interim award of counsel fees not to exceed 28% of the Fund plus expenses. In addition, it is expected that the Class Representative will request an incentive fee of US$25,000 from the Fund. The aforesaid applications will be filed with the Clerk of the Court in Hawaii listed below and will be available for inspection there and at the offices of Class Counsel listed above in advance of the hearing on this Settlement. Any objection thereto should be in writing and sent via first class mail to: Clerk of the Court United States Courthouse 300 Ala Moana Boulevard Honolulu, Hawaii 96850 The objections must be received by the Court and Class Counsel no later than seven (7) days before the Hearing, and must bear the caption: “Estate of Ferdinand E. Marcos Human Rights Litigation, MDL No. 840 (D.HI).” ADDITIONAL INFORMATION If you have changed your address, if you change your address at any time in the future, if this Notice reached you at a place other than the one to which it was directed, or if you have additional questions concerning this Notice, you should immediately notify Robert A. Swift at the address above, or: Atty. Rodrigo C. Domingo Filipino Co-Counsel LPL Center, Unit 15-B 130 L.P. Leviste Street Salcedo Village, Makati City 1227 Philippines PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT THE CLERK OF THE COURT OR JUDGE REAL BY ORDER OF THE COURT: /s/ Sue Beitia Sue Beitia, Clerk United States District Court District of Hawaii Dated: August 20, 2013
Posted on: Sun, 01 Sep 2013 04:30:37 +0000
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