Filed 1/19/22 G.F. Korea v. Yehyang CA4/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION THREE G.F. KOREA, INC. et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, G054427 v. (Super. Ct. No. 30-2014-00755207) YEHYANG, INC. et al., OPINION Defendants and Appellants. Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Deborah C. Servino, Judge. Affirmed. JK Law Firm and Jean Kwon; Hampton Firm and Kyle A. Hampton for Defendants and Appellants. The Law Offices of Collin Seals, Collin Seals and John Seals; Charles L. Murray III for Plaintiffs and Respondents. The parties in this appeal claim this case presents an “uncommon situation where a plaintiff obtained a jury verdict based on a theory” the jury was not instructed on. Specifically, they assert that while there was evidence to support a promissory fraud judgment, the jury was only instructed on other kinds of fraud, and therefore the fraud verdict must be reversed. While that would be a rare and interesting case, it is not what actually transpired here. Ji Young Kim (and her company G.F. Korea) presented evidence to support her theory of the case — she fell prey to a fraudulent scheme involving intentional misrepresentations and concealment of material facts. Thus, she submitted jury instructions that were supported by the evidence. We find no reason to disturb the jury’s fraud verdict or the punitive damages award. We affirm the judgment. FACTS I. The Parties Jong Dae Lee (Lee) and his wife Ji Young Kim (Kim), were devout Christians from South Korean. They had four school-aged children. Lee and Kim both had bachelor degrees in chemistry, and Lee ran a small company in Korea providing electrical work. Before 2011, they did not speak or read English. Ik Soo Bang (Ik), a pastor, and his wife, Hye Young Bang (Hye), were also South Korean nationals.1 Ik, formally a musician, became an ordained pastor in 2000. In 2004, the Bangs immigrated to America. In 2009, Ik started his own church and Hye purchased Corea BBQ. The Bangs had three adult children. II. How They Met The Bangs met Lee and Kim in April 2011, during a religious revival meeting in Korea. After Ik finished preaching, he attended a dinner with members of Lee and Kim’s congregation. A few months later, the two couples attended another revival meeting where Ik delivered sermons. The two couples dined together, and they discussed 1 To avoid confusion, we refer to Ik and Hye Bang by their first names when the context requires but will otherwise refer to them collectively as the Bangs. 2 faith and Ik’s church’s need for money. At the time, Lee was not aware Ik would often …
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