Golden State Pharmaceuticals v. Yee CA2/5

I. INTRODUCTION

Golden State Pharmaceuticals LLC (Golden State), a cancelled limited liability corporation, filed claims with the California State Controller (the Controller) for money the Controller held under the California Unclaimed Property Law (UPL). When the Controller failed to act on the claims, Golden State brought a civil action under the UPL to recover the money. The trial court granted Golden State’s motion for summary judgment, awarding it $121,989.13. The Controller appeals. We reverse.

II. BACKGROUND1

A. Golden State

Marisa Schermbeck Nelson worked as a personal assistant to Doctor Munir Uwaydah from 2000 to June 2010. Uwaydah owned and controlled several companies that were held in other persons’ names to hide his ownership and control from creditors, insurance investigators, and government agencies. During Nelson’s employment with Uwaydah, Uwaydah directed her to put her name as owner, officer, or manager of various corporations or limited liability companies even though he owned and solely controlled the operation of those entities.

“Consistent with our standard of review of orders granting summary judgment, we will recite the historical facts…