Filed 7/18/23 Huang v. Henry Global Consulting CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FOUR JUNYANG HUANG et al., B317537 Plaintiffs and Appellants, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. Nos.BC685035, v. 19STCV37446) HENRY GLOBAL CONSULTING et al., Defendants and Respondents. APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Barbara M. Scheper, Judge. Affirmed. Law Offices of Jeffrey T. Bell and Jeffrey T. Bell for Plaintiffs and Appellants. Venable, Belinda M. Vega, Witt W. Chang for Defendant and Respondent Las Vegas Resort Holdings, LLC. Appellants Junyang Huang, Shenghong Cheng, and Xiaole Chen challenge the confirmation of an arbitration award in favor of respondent Las Vegas Resort Holdings, LLC (Holdings) and other parties not involved in this appeal. Appellants contend the award should be vacated because the arbitrators exceeded their authority by determining the arbitrability of and adjudicating claims against non-signatories to the arbitration agreement, adjudicating claims that sought punitive damages, unreasonably limiting the scope of discovery, and resolving the matter without an evidentiary hearing. We reject these contentions and affirm. FACTUAL BACKGROUND The underlying facts of this case stem from Holdings’s renovation and rebranding of the Sahara Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas into the SLS Las Vegas Hotel (the project).1 Because the facts are complex and of limited relevance to the issues presented on appeal, we provide only a brief overview here, drawn primarily from appellants’ second revised statement of claims (SRSOC) and the final arbitration award. To obtain some of the funding necessary for the costly project, Holdings participated in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service’s EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, which provides a path to permanent U.S. residency for foreign nationals who invest at least $500,000 in approved job- creating projects and meet other criteria. It is operated through 1 Holdings’s predecessors in interest acquired ownership of the hotel in 2007 and operated the hotel and oversaw the project for several years before ownership transferred to Holdings. Because there is no dispute about Holdings’s interest, we use the term “Holdings” to refer to the predecessors in interest as well as Holdings. 2 various “regional centers” across the country; American Dream Fund, LLC (ADF), operates the Las Vegas Regional Center relevant to this case. To facilitate investment by foreign nationals, Holdings created a new business entity, SLS Lender, LLC, for the purpose of making a $115 million loan to the project. Holdings also paid for the preparation of a lengthy business plan for SLS Lender, LLC. The business plan included detailed information about the project and its financing, as well as the EB-5 program. It was translated into Chinese and promoted in China along …
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