FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 11/30/2016 05:44 PM INDEX NO. 652006/2016 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 63 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 11/30/2016 S U R R O G AT E ' S C O U R T O F T H E S TAT E O F N E W Y O R K COUNTY OF NEW YORK Ancillary Administration Proceeding, E S TAT E O F Y V O N N E R. R O G E R S, F i l e N o. 9 4 4 / 2 0 1 0 a domiciliary of Switzerland, Deceased. A F F I D AV I T O F M I K E H O R N U N G MIKE HORNUNG, makes oath and says as follows: 1. I am an attorney and a member of the Swiss bar. I live and practice law in Geneva, Switzerland. 2. I submit this affidavit in support of my motion seeking revocation of the ^^ancillary letters testamentary'^ and '^ancillary letters of administration c.t.a." which were previously submitted in the abovementioned case, and presentation of the ''ancillary letters of administration c. ta." that were filed with this affidavit. 3. On March 11, 2010, the Justice of the Peace of the Republic and Canton of Geneva (the "Justice of the Peace") appointed me court appointed administrator of the estate of Yvonne Rogers. See Ruling of the Swiss Justice of the Peace and its certieed translation, attached as Exhibit A. 4. The Justice of the Peace appointed me as court appointed administrator and concluded that Mr. Daniel Lapeyre could not be appointed court appointed administrator. 5. I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth below by reason of the duties performed by me as administrator. 6. On January 18,2010, Ms. Yvonne Rogers (the "deceased"), died in 1
Geneva, Switzerland, leaving a holographic will signed in Geneva on August 8,2004. 7. The will designated three heirs, including Mr. Daniel Lapeyre, and named h i m e x e c u t o r. 8. On January 21, 2010, the sons of the deceased. Christian Jean-Francois Rey-Millet^d Jacques Louis Benoit Rey-Millet, who were not named in the will, filed w ' i t " *. 4 ^ a motion requesting a full inventory of the estate with the Justice of the Peace of the Canton of Geneva. 9. On February 8,2010, Mr. Lapeyre filed the will in person with the Justice of the Peace and simultaneously filed opposition to the issuance of a determination of heirship by the Justice of the Peace claiming that the deceased resided in the United States at the time of her death. 10. On February 12,2010, the sons of the deceased filed a motion to establish that the deceased resided in Switzerland at the time of her death. 11. On March 11,2010, the Justice of the Peace ruled as follows: a. The deceased resided in Switzerland at the time of her death; b. The will was subject to Swiss law since it did not designate the place of jurisdiction; c. The motion requesting a fiill inventory of the estate filed by the sons of the deceased was granted; d. The court appointed administration of the estate ordered by the Justice of the Peace was necessary and could not be entrusted to the designated executor, Mr. Lapeyre, because he was also an heir according to the will;
e. I, the undersigned, Mike Homung, was appointed court appointed administrator of the estate; and f. Jean-Luc Ducret, Swiss notary, was responsible for conducting the full inventory of the estate ordered by the Justice of the Peace. g. The Justice of the Peace, in its March 11 ruling, also requested that I compose a list of the estate's assets and liabilities, contact a representative of the tax authorities, and gather all required information on the heirs of the deceased. 12. On March 29,2010, Mr. Lapeyre, among others, appealed the Justice of the Peace's ruling with the Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva. See Mr. Daniel Lapeyre's appeal of the Justice of the Peace's order, attached as Exhibit B. 13. On September 14,2010, the Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva dismissed Mr. Lapeyre's appeal and upheld the Justice of the Peace's order. See Ruling of the Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva, attached as Exhibit C. More specifically, the Court of Justice affirmed that the deceased resided in Switzerland at the time of her death and that I was court appointed administrator of the estate. 14. On October 15,2010, Mr. Lapeyre appealed the Court of Justice's ruling with the Federal Court 15. On May 12,2011, the Federal Court dismissed Mr. Lapeyre's appeal and upheld the lower courts' rulings that the deceased resided in Switzerland at the time of her death and that my role as court appointed administrator was upheld. See Judgment of the Federal Court, attached as Exhibit D. 16. In accordance with my duties as administrator, I sent a letter to the Justice of the 3
Peace on May 5,2011 informing him/her of my efforts to appraise the estate^s assets. See Letter to the Justice of the Peace, attached as Exhibit E. In that letter, I informed the Justice of the Peace of the following facts: a. The dece^ed was the principal shareholder in several companies that were created and/or acquired by her grandfather, Pierre Famel. Between the 1940s and the 1980s the deceased helped oversee financial control of these companies' holdings. She was assisted in managing the holdings by several associates, including Mr. Lapeyre. b. The deceased was head of a family company whose management was, over time, entrusted to individuals outside the family and was finally entrusted to Mr. Lapeyre. c. Mr. Lapeyre maintained close contact with the deceased during the last years of her life and, among other things, took on her daily expenses in Geneva, hired domestic staff to take care of her and her apartment, and made arrangements for her dog's care upon her death. d. Upon Ms. Yvonne Rogers' death, Mr. Lapeyre was in possession of her will, which appointed him as executor and legatee of a sum of 50,000 CHF. 17. In my letter dated May 5,2011 to the Justice of the Peace, I also explained that Mr. Lapeyre had made a number of misleading or deceptive statements in the time I have served as administrator, including: a. During a discussion on March 25, 2010, and in several other communications, Mr. Lapeyre claimed that he was not aware of the 4
status of the deceased's assets. More specifically, he stated that he did not know the location of a certain stock certificate relating to a real estate company. Shortly thereafter, his attorney, Mr. Genoud, stated that the certificate was in his safe. A b. Mr. Lapeyre stated that the deceased must have had "small" accounts at Pictet Bank and Rothschild Bank. The closing balances of the two accounts on the day of Ms. Yvonne Rogers' death were 4,S!98,077 USD and 380,797.52 EUR respectively. c. Mr. Lape^e guaranteed that the deceased had never owned shares in the company. Chateau Latour. I found documents showing that Ms. Yvonne Rogers received 400 Chlteau Latour shares as a gift from her parents. d. Mr. Lapeyre declared that he did not know anything about the company, Reteaux. Mr. Lapeyre is or was the Chairman of the Board of Directors the company, Borainal, which is the principal shareholder of R6teaux. 18. My letter dated May 5,2011 also explained that the deceased owned shares in at least eight companies and that she currently no longer appears to be a shareholder of these companies, whereas Mr. Lapeyre was either the manager or director of virtually all of these companies. I informed the Justice of the Peace that, due to his duties at these companies, Mr. Lapeyre probably had the history of the sale of shares by the deceased, which could be used to determine whether she held shares in one of the companies at the time of her death and when these shares were transferred. 19. The facts as presented in my letter of May 5,2011 and reported above are true 5
and correct, and I hereby reaffirm that these are the facts as they occurred. 20. In my letter of May 5,201II asked the Justice of the Peace for authorization to take action in the United States in order to challenge Mr. Lapeyre^s appointment as executor in New York as well as Mr, Pavia*s appointment ^ ^'ancillary administrator c.t.a** in New York, and my request was granted. 21. I believe that there may be assets in France associated with certain companies in which the deceased had an interest I have also asked the Justice of the Peace for authorization to investigate any estate assets that may exist in France. 22. At no time, even after my appointment as court appointed administrator, has Mr. Lapeyre informed me of the lis pendens of these proceedings in New York. He made representations in the United States without keeping me informed. He never presented me with copies of the acts of these proceedings or of any other proceedings. Mr. Lapeyre did not present me with any information on the estate's assets. 23. In a letter dated July 13,2010, Mr. Lapeyre declared that he had not yet obtained information regarding any assets that the deceased may have owned in the United States. 24. I understand that, in accordance with the laws of New York, as an alien not residing in New York, I can be appointed as ''ancillary administrator of the estate only if I act alongside a New York resident as "co-ancillary administrator" I hereby designate Mr. Ronald S. Pohl, an American citizen whose business address is 60 East 42nd St. New York, NY 10165, to act as "ancillary administrator c.ta," of the estate as well as act with me as cofiduciary. 6
DATED: October 31,2011 [Signature] Mike Homung Attomey-at-law, Geneva Bar 9 Pi. du Bourg-de-Four 1204 Geneva NOTARIZATION SIGNATURE! OF Exclusive examination and certification by the undersigned, Maitre Pierre NATURAL, Notary in Geneva, of the signature affixed below by Mr. Mike HORNUNG. - C.O.LC2288282.- Geneva, October 31,201 l/ma APOSTTLLE (Hague Convention of October 5,1961) 1.- Country: Switzerland This public document 2.- has been signed by 3.- acting in the capacity of NSfUwy, 4.- bears the seal/stamp of.. [stamp:] CANTONAL STAMP OCT. 31,2011 [signature] [stamp:] PIERRE NATURAL NOTARY GENEVA Certified 5, - i n G e n e v a 6. - o n ^ ^. 7 * 3 0 11 7.- Republic and Canton of Geneva 8.-under No. 7.7.12 9.- Seal/ stamp: 10. Signature M A I T R E P I E R R E N A T U R A L NOTARY 9, Place du Molard Postal Code 3452 1211 GENEVA 3 Tel (0041)22 310 73 74 - Fax. (0041)22 310 73 76 Celine FAVRE [signature] DSPE [Geneva Department for Security, Police and the Environment]