Issod

The defendant Steven Issod, was sued by the Mike Davidov Company, which is owned by Mike Davidov (plaintiff), for fraud and breach of contract after defendant failed to return a diamond to plaintiff. Following a bench trial, the court ruled in favor of plaintiff, and awarded him $20,301 in compensatory damages on the fraud cause of action, and $96,000 in punitive damages. We conclude that the judgment is amply supported by the record, and that the award of punitive damages was proper even though plaintiff did not produce evidence of defendant’s financial condition. As defendant failed to obey a court order requiring him to produce records of his financial condition, he is estopped to object to the absence of such evidence.

Factual and Procedural Background

On February 22, 1995, defendant telephoned plaintiff and asked plaintiff to send over two diamonds. Defendant represented to plaintiff that he had a customer present in his office at the time of the telephone call, and that this customer was interested in buying a diamond of a particular size and quality.

Both plaintiff and defendant are active members of the diamond industry. Plaintiff has been in the diamond…