NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

NO. CAAP-20-0000160

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

Pinmei Wang; John Does 1-100; Jane Does 1-100,

Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Zhong Fang aka Johnson Fang;

Mei Hu aka Michelle Hu; Jiajia Wang; Zhe Fang; Lamei Fang;

Hawaii City Plaza LP, Hawaii Ocean Plaza LP; California

Regional Center LLC; California Investment Regional

Center LLC, Defendants-Appellees,

and

John Does 1-10; Jane Does 1-10; Doe Partnerships 1-10;

Doe Corporations 1-10; Doe Entities 1-10; and 

Doe Governmental Units 1-10, Defendants

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT

(Case No. 1CCV-19-0002025)

and

Tao Jiang; Chuanjiao Yu; Tiange Yang; Xiaomin Huang;

Pinmei Wang; Xiaohui Wu; Yuyang Jing; Li Wang; Dong

Zhang; Ke Yuan; Wei Jiang; Xiujuan Li; Songhua Zhang;

Yihao Xu; Wei Wang; Ruigang Tan; Jing Liu; John Does 1-100;

Jane Does 1-100, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Zhong Fang

aka Johnson Fang; Min Hu aka Michelle Hu; Zhe Fang;

Jia Yu aka Jiajia Wang; Lamei Fang; Hawaii City Plaza LP,

Hawaii Ocean Plaza LP; California Regional Center LLC;

California Investment Regional Center LLC; Wuhan

Western U.S. Investment Immigration Consultant Inc.,

Defendants-Appellees,

and

John Does 1-10; Jane Does 1-10; Doe Partnerships 1-10;

Doe Corporations 1-10; Doe Entities 1-10; and

Doe Governmental Units 1-10, Defendants

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT

(Case No. 1CCV-19-0002037)

Electronically Filed

Intermediate Court of Appeals

CAAP-20-0000160

05-JUL-2024

08:20 AM

Dkt. 53 SO
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and

Yanli Xu; Naomi Hasegawa; Kazuhiro Ishida; Atsushi

Morita; Jubee Aizawa; Kasumi Ishida; Tatsuto Ehara;

Makoto Ishida; Hun-Dong Yu; Lili Wu; Tao Jiang;

Chuanjiao Yu; Tiange Yang; Xiaomin Huang; Pinmei Wang;

Xiaohui Wu; Yuyang Jing; Li Wang; Dong Zhang; Ke Yuan;

Wei Jiang; Xiujuan Li; Songhua Zhang; Yihao Xu; Wei

Wang; Ruigang Tan; Jing Liu; John Does 1-100;

Jane Does 1-100, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Zhong Fang

aka Johnson Fang; Min Hu aka Michelle Hu; Zhe Fang

aka Jay Fang; Jiayu Wang aka Jiajia Wang; Lamei Fang;

USA Realty Construction Group Inc.; California

Investment Regional Center LLC; California Regional

Center LLC; American Investment Immigration Fund;

Hawaii City Plaza LP; Hawaii Ocean Plaza LP; Los

Angeles City Plaza LP; LA Valley Garden Plaza LP;

9920 Valley Blvd LP, Defendants-Appellees,

and

John Does 1-10; Jane Does 1-10; Doe Partnerships 1-10;

Doe Corporations 1-10; Doe Entities 1-10; and

Doe Governmental Units 1-10, Defendants

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT

(Case No. 1CCV-19-0002169)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER

(By: Leonard, Acting Chief Judge, Hiraoka and McCullen, JJ.)

This appeal involves three lawsuits pending in the

Circuit Court of the First Circuit. The first was filed by

Pinmei Wang against several defendants on October 24, 2019.1 The

second was filed by Wang and 16 more plaintiffs2 against the same

defendants, plus one new defendant,3 on October 31, 2019. The

third was filed by the plaintiffs in the second lawsuit, plus ten

1 The named defendants were Zhong Fang aka Johnson Fang; Mei Hu aka

Michelle Hu; Jiajia Wang; Zhe Fang; Lamei Fang; Hawaii City Plaza LP, Hawaii

Ocean Plaza LP; California Regional Center LLC; and California Investment

Regional Center LLC.

2 The new plaintiffs were Tao Jiang; Chuanjiao Yu; Tiange Yang;

Xiaomin Huang; Xiaohui Wu; Yuyang Jing; Li Wang; Dong Zhang; Ke Yuan; Wei

Jiang; Xiujuan Li; Songhua Zhang; Yihao Xu; Wei Wang; Ruigang Tan; and Jing

Liu.

3 The new defendant was Wuhan Western U.S. Investment Immigration

Consultant Inc.

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new plaintiffs,4 against all except one of the defendants named

in the second lawsuit,5 plus five new defendants,6 on

November 18, 2019. The complaints and amended complaints in each

lawsuit were materially identical.

Notices of pendency of action under Hawaii Revised

Statutes (HRS) § 634-51 (lis pendens) were filed in each lawsuit. 

The defendants moved to expunge the lis pendens. The circuit

court entered orders granting the motions on March 16, 2020.7

The circuit court consolidated the lawsuits. After

consolidation, the defendants moved to "dismiss and/or strike

duplicative actions." The circuit court entered orders granting

the motions on March 16, 2020.

The plaintiffs appeal from the orders expunging the lis

pendens and granting the motions to dismiss and/or strike.

(1) The orders granting the defendants' motions to

dismiss and/or strike were identical. The first and second

lawsuits were dismissed, but each order stated:

4. The Plaintiffs shall be given leave to amend the

complaint to consolidate all claims and causes of action

into the case of Yanli Xu, et al. v. Zhong Fang, et al.

(Civil No. 1CCV-19-0002169) [the third lawsuit].

The orders did not dispose of any claim against any

party. They were not reduced to separate judgments in favor of

and against the appropriate parties under Hawai#i Rules of Civil

Procedure (HRCP) Rule 58 or certified for appeal under HRCP 

Rule 54(b). Jenkins v. Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, 76

Hawai#i 115, 119, 869 P.2d 1334, 1338 (1994). They were not

4 The new plaintiffs were Yanli Xu; Naomi Hasegawa; Kazuhiro Ishida;

Atsushi Morita; Jubee Aizawa; Kasumi Ishida; Tatsuto Ehara; Makoto Ishida;

Hun-Dong Yu; and Lili Wu.

5 Wuhan Western U.S. Investment Immigration Consultant Inc. was not

named as a defendant in the third lawsuit.

6 The new defendants were USA Realty Construction Group Inc.;

American Investment Immigration Fund; Los Angeles City Plaza LP; LA Valley

Garden Plaza LP; and 9920 Valley Blvd LP.

7 The Honorable Dean E. Ochiai presided.

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appealable under the collateral order doctrine or the Forgay

doctrine. See Greer v. Baker, 137 Hawai#i 249, 253, 369 P.3d

832, 836 (2016). The record does not reflect that the circuit

court allowed an interlocutory appeal under HRS § 641-1(b). The

plaintiffs' appeal from the orders granting the defendants'

motions to dismiss and/or strike is dismissed for lack of

jurisdiction.

(2) The orders granting the defendants' motions to

expunge the lis pendens are appealable under the collateral order

doctrine. See Knauer v. Foote, 101 Hawai#i 81, 84–85, 63 P.3d

389, 392–93 (2003). We review for abuse of discretion. 

S. Utsunomiya Enters., Inc. v. Moomuku Country Club, 75 Haw. 480,

504, 866 P.2d 951, 964 (1994).

Lis pendens is authorized only in "actions directly

seeking to obtain title to or possession of real property." 

Utsunomiya, 75 Haw. at 510, 866 P.2d at 966. The nature of the

action is determined on the face of the complaint without regard

to likelihood of success on the merits. Id. at 505-06, 866 P.2d

at 964. The plaintiffs' first amended complaints were the

operative complaints in each lawsuit when the orders expunging

the lis pendens were entered. See id. at 506, 866 P.2d at 964

(analyzing amended complaint filed in response to motion to

expunge lis pendens). We do not consider the second amended

complaint filed in the third lawsuit because it was filed after

entry of the order expunging the lis pendens.

The plaintiffs claim to have invested money, through

the defendants, in two EB-5 entities,8 Hawaii City Plaza LP and

Hawaii Ocean Plaza LP. They claimed the defendants fraudulently

induced their investments, mismanaged the EB-5 entities,

commingled their funds, and underfunded and significantly delayed

the EB-5 entities' real estate development projects. The

8 EB-5 is a federal program under which foreign investors are

eligible to apply for lawful permanent residence if they meet certain

requirements. See EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, https://www.uscis.gov/

working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program

(last visited May 22, 2024) [https://perma.cc/FQL3-E5KB].

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plaintiffs sought return of their investments, appointment of a

commissioner to operate the entities, and an award of damages. 

After the motions to expunge lis pendens were filed, the

plaintiffs amended their complaints to allege "settlement of

property titles." But none of the plaintiffs claimed title to,

or sought to possess, any real property. Rather, they sought to

"resettle all the titles of the real properties involved in the

Defendants' EB-5 operations" among the various entity defendants. 

Under these circumstances the circuit court did not abuse its

discretion by granting the defendants' motions to expunge the lis

pendens.

For these reasons, the March 16, 2020 Order[s] Granting

Defendants' Motion[s] to Expunge Lis Pendens are affirmed. The

plaintiffs' appeal from the March 16, 2020 Order[s] Granting 

[Defendants'] Motion[s] to Dismiss and/or Strike Duplicative

Actions is dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.

DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, July 5, 2024.

On the briefs:

/s/ Katherine G. Leonard

Wen Sheng Gao, Acting Chief Judge

for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

/s/ Keith K. Hiraoka

David R. Squeri, Associate Judge

Sol V. Yi,

for Defendants-Appellees /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen

Zhong Fang aka Johnson Fang; Associate Judge

Min Hu aka Michelle Hu;

Zhe Fang aka Jay Fang;

Yujia Wang aka Jiajia Wang;

Lamei Fang; USA Realty 

Construction Group Inc.; 

California Investment Regional 

Center LLC; California

Regional Center LLC; Wuhan

Western U.S. Investment

Immigration Consultant Inc.;

American Investment Immigration 

Fund; Hawaii City Plaza LP; and

Hawaii Ocean Plaza LP. 

5