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### STATE OF MICHIGAN

COURT OF APPEALS

POLICE & FIRE RETIREMENT SYSTEM OF THE CITY OF DETROIT,

Plaintiff-Appellee, UNPUBLISHED February 14, 2017

v No. 329048 Wayne Circuit Court MICHAEL ABRAHAM LEIBOWITZ, LC No. 12-014242-CK

Defendant-Appellant.

Before: S TEPHENS , P.J., and S ERVITTO and S HAPIRO , JJ.

P ER C URIAM

. Defendant appeals as of right t he trial court’s order granting plaintiff’s motion for summary disposition pursuant t o MCR 2.116(C)(10), and awarding plaintiff judgment against defendant in the amount of $10,131,250. The trial court ruled that plaintiff was entitled to pierce the corporate veil and hold defendant personally liable for a j udgment debt owed to plaintiff by Invescor, Ltd. (“Invescor”), a co mpany for which defendant was the president, chief executive officer (CEO), and sole shareholder. We reverse and remand to the trial court for further proceedings.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Defendant is the former sole sh areholder of the now-defunct co rporation, Invescor. Invescor’s primary business was brokering “life settlement” transactions, in which the owner and insured of a life insurance polic y would sell the policy to an investor (known as a “provider”), who would then pay the policy’s premiums in exchange for the po licy’s death benefit. In 2008, defendant and plaintiff negotiate d a loan agreement whereby pla intiff agreed to provide a loan investment to Invescor in the amount of $10,000,000 for purpose s of expanding Invescor’s business. In 2010, Invescor defaulted on the loan and plaintif f brought an action against Invescor for breach of contract. In the course of discovery, p laintiff learned that Invescor had transferred substantial sums of monies to defendant, purportedl y in repayment of a loan that defendant had made to Invescor before plaintiff’s involvement. Plaintiff also discovered that defendant charged substantial personal expenses to Invescor’s c orporate credit account. Plaintiff added defendant as an individual party-defendant to this prior action.

Invescor did not plead or res pond in the prior action, and the trial court entered a default judgment against Invescor and in favor of plaintiff in the amount of $10,131,250, for the unpaid-2- principal and interest owed by Invescor to plaintiff. The part ies later stipulated to dismiss the prior action as to defendant, w ithout prejudice, and plaintiff was permitted to refile an action against defendant.

Plaintiff then brought this action against defendant, stating a single count labeled as Breach of Contract – Piercing the Corporate Veil. Plaintiff al leged that defendant should be held personally liable for Invescor’s judgment debt because defendan t did not regard Invescor as a corporate entity distinct from defendant, and instead used Inve scor as a mere instrumentality to transfer substantial amounts of cash, including funds provided by plaintiff, to himself under the guise of repaying himself for hi s loans of personal funds to In vescor. Plaintiff also alleged that defendant deceived plaintiff regarding Invescor’s true financia l status through deceptive accrualbased accounting practices, in v iolation of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Specifically, plaintiff alleged th at Invescor’s financial state ments represented applications to sell life insurance policies to provi ders as inventory or accounts r eceivable, although these policies were not yet sold. Invescor cat egorized these policies accordi ng to the stage of the transaction, increasing the value as it came closer to a final sale. It adj usted the value of these assets to reflect that some policies woul d not sell, and it then would no t receive a commission on the sale. Plaintiff contended that these w ere “phantom assets” that false ly portrayed Invescor as a profitable company.

Plaintiff moved for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(10) . Plaintiff argued that the financial documents it obtain ed from Invescor during the pr ior action revealed defendant’s fraudulent accounting and self-enrichment from Invescor’s asset s. In response, defendant blamed the 2008 financial crisis for Invescor’s failure. He as serted that the seizure of the credit markets prevented providers from obtaining funds to buy life se ttlements. Defendant argued that summary disposition was not warranted because there remained ge nuine issues of material fact. He acknowledged that he sometimes charged personal expenses to his business account, and sometimes charged business expenses to his personal account, but offered his own and Invescor’s employees’ deposition testimony that he had instruct ed employees to adjust and reconcile his business accounts an d personal note to Invescor t o account for the charges. Defendant also argued that his listing of unsold policies was alegitimate procedure, which was required by LaSalle Bank when it previously made a loan to Inve scor. Defendant further asserted that the financial documents provided to plaintiff dur ing its due diligence investigation of Invescor disclosed the accounting procedure. Defendant also offered evidence that the money he received from Invescor was cons iderably lower than the subst antial sums of his own money that he put into Invescor in an a ttempt to weather the financia l crisis.

The trial court concluded that there was no issue of material fact that defendant used Invescor as a “mere instrumentality” or alter ego. The court r ejected defendant’s assertion that he lost more money than he gained from his dealings with Invesc or. In support of this conclusion, the court relied on plaintiff’s Exhibit UU, a docum ent pertaining to defendant’s finances, which indicated that he owed “hundreds of thousands o f dollars” to Invescor. The trial court did not address plaintiff’ s allegations concerning “phant om assets,” but concluded that plaintiff would not have made th e loan to Invescor if it had be en aware of its true financial state.

II. PIERCING THE CORPORATE VEIL-3- This Court reviews a motion for summary disposition de novo. Summary disposition may be granted under MCR 2.116(C)(10) when “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment . . . as a matter of law.” This Court must consider any evidence submitted by the parties and view that evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party to determine whether a genuine issue of materia l fact exists. Maiden v Rozwood, 461 Mich 109, 118-120; 597 NW2d 817 (1999). A genuine issue o f material fact exists when the record leaves open “an issue upon which reasonable minds might differ.” Debano–Griffin v Lake Co, 493 Mich 167, 175; 828 NW2d 634 (2013) (quotation omitted). A trial court’s decision whether to pierce the corporate veil is reviewed de novo “because of the equitable nature of the remedy.” Foodland Distrib v Al–Naimi, 220 Mich App 453, 456; 559 NW2d 379 (1996).

“Michigan courts typically cons ider corporations legally disti nct from their shareholders, even if a single shareholder owns all the stock.” Dep’t of Consumer & Indus Servs v Shah, 236 Mich App 381, 393; 600 NW2d 406 (1999); Lakeview Commons v Empower Yourself , 290 Mich App 503, 509; 802 NW2d 712 (2010) (“the law treats a corporatio n as an entirely separate entity from its stockholders, even where one person owns all the corpo ration’s stock.”). “However, when this fiction is invoked to subvert justice, it may be igno red by the courts.” Foodland Distrib, 220 Mich App at 456. Generally, a court is warranted in disre garding the separate existence of a corporation where (1) the corporate entity is a mere instrumentality of another individual or entity, (2) the entity was used to commit a wrong or fraud, and (3) there is an unjust injury or loss to the plaintiff. Rymal v Baergen, 262 Mich App 274, 293-294; 686 NW2d 241 (2004). “There is no single rul e delineating when a corporate entity should be disregarded, and the facts are to be assessed in light of a corporation’s econom ic justification to determine if the corporate form has been abused.” Id. at 294. In Glenn v TPI Petroleum, Inc , 305 Mich App 698, 716; 854 NW2d 509 (2014), this Court observed:

Factors used by courts to determine the propriety of piercing t he corporate veil include: (1) whether the corpor ation is undercap italized, (2) w hether separate books are kept, (3) whether there are separate finances for the corporation, (4) whether the corporation is used for fraud or illegality, (5) wh ether corporate formalities have been followed, and (6) whether the corporation is a sham. Laborers’ Pension Trust Fund v Sidney Weinberger Homes, Inc , 872 F2d 702, 704-705 (CA 6, 1988).

A. MERE INSTRUMENTALITY

Defendant denies that he used Invescor as a mere instrumentali ty for himself. He acknowledges that he sometimes charged personal expenses to cor porate accounts, and sometimes used personal funds for business expenses, but he pre sented evidence that it was his practice to reconcile these charges to associate them with the proper accounts to maintain Invescor’s status as a separate entity. Plaintiff relies on un published decisions in which courts found that evidence of an individual party’s comingling of corp orate and personal funds supported an action to pierce the corporate veil, and that evid ence of practices of reconciling-4- personal and business expenses were insufficient to defeat a pl aintiff’s attempt to pierce the corporate veil. 1 The cases cited by plaintiff merely establish that evidence o f an individual party’s comingling of corporate and personal funds can provide factual support for a plaintiff’s claim that the corporation was used as a mere instrumentality b y the individual party. However, they do not hold as a matter of law that evidence of such comin gling of funds compels a finding that the corporate entity was used as a mere instrumentality of the individual party, or that evidence of practices by corporate and individual parties to re concile personal and business charges by posting them to their proper accounts is irrelevant or cannot be considered in determining whether an individual party used a corporate entity as a mere instrumentality. The cases reinforce that where there are allegations that corporate funds were used to pay personal expenses, the question whether the corporation was used as the individual party’s mere instrumentality remains a question of fact.

We note that in two of the cases cited by plaintiff, the trial court decided the matter after conducting a bench trial, and the trial court was permitted to weigh all of the evidence and make findings on disputed issues of fact, which the appellate courts were then required to review for clear error. Teran v Rittley, 313 Mich App 197, 213; 882 NW2d 181 (2015). In contrast, in t he present case the issue was presented in the context of a motion for summary disposition, and the trial court was not permitted to make findings of fact, but rather was required to view the evidence in a light most favorable to defendant to determine wh ether the evidence established a genuine issue of material fact. Maiden, 461 Mich at 118-120. Further , the trial court’s decision is not accorded any particular deference, but rather is reviewe d de novo. Id. In another unpublished case cited by plainti ff, the trial court decided th e matter in the context of a motion for summary judgment, but the tri al court found no factual supp ort for the defendants’ assertion that corporate funds were used t o pay only directly incurred bu siness expenses. In the instant case, defendant offered the deposition testimony of himself and other witnesses to support his claim that adjustments to Invescor’s accounts were regularly ma de whenever personal expenses were charged to corporate account s, and thus that corporate fun ds were not ultimately used to pay defendant’s personal expenses . This evidence established a question of fact with respect to commingling of funds for purposes of determining whether defend ant treated Invescor as an alter ego rather than a separate entity.

The trial court rejected defendant’s assertion that his losses in loans to Invescor were greater than the transfers of moni es from Invescor to himself. The trial court relied on plaintiff’s Exhibit UU to support its finding that the evidence “shows that [defendant] owed Invescor hundreds of thousands of dollars as of December 31, 2009.” Pla intiff’s Exhibit UU consists of a one-page document entitled “Mike Leibowitz Balance Sheet As of December 31, 2009.” Plaintiff cited this document in support of its statement that “according to [defendant’s] personal financial records, he owes Invescor $781,000.” In this documen t, under the heading “ASSETS” and the subheading “Other Assets,” are the items (1) “Invescor LTD-Note Receivable,” with a

1 Although this Court’s unpublished decisions are not precedenti ally binding, MCR 7.215(C)(1), they may be considered instructive or persuasive. Paris Meadows, LLC v City of Kentwood , 287 Mich App 136, 145 n 3; 783 NW2d 133 (2010).-5- corresponding amount of –$781,471.15; (2) “Invescor NB-Not Rec” with a corresponding amount of $5,785.13; (3) “Invescor W holesale BD-Note Rec,” witha corresponding amount of –$75,000, and (4) “Note Receivable MA L Capital,” with a corresp onding amount of $252,500. The sum of these figures is listed as “Total Other Assets,” with a corresponding amount of –$598,186.02. Defendant argues that this document is not compe tent evidence because plaintiff did not explain where it came from, who prepared it, or the pur pose for which it was prepared. Defendant also asserts that Invescor’s financial records do not corroborate that he owed this debt to Invescor. Moreover, defenda nt asserts that Invescor’s finan cial records do not corroborate that he owed this debt to Invescor. Defendant also indicates that the document’s listing of negative figures as assets is apeculiarity that calls for expl anation.

Defendant raises valid questions about the competency of plain tiff’s Exhibit UU to prove his indebtedness to Invescor in comparison to the monies that h e allegedly infused into Invescor in an attempt to survive the financial crisis. However, defend ant did not contend below that the document was a fabrication or inauthentic in any respect. Defe ndant is in the best position to know whether this document is an authentic copy of a document h e provided to plaintiff, or a document compiled from data plaintiff received in discovery. I f it was produced in discovery, defendant is also in the best pos ition to interpret the documen t. Defendant neither challenged the document’s authenticity, nor offer ed an alternative explanation . The trial court did not acknowledge the questions surroun ding plaintiff’s Exhibit UU, b ut merely cited it in support of its conclusion that defendant w as heavily in debt to Invescor. Under these circumstances, we conclude that plaintiff’s Exhi bit UU does not preclude a questi on of fact related to the dispute of whether defendant took more or l ess money out of Invescor than he put into it.

Plaintiff emphasizes that there were no formal loan agreements between defendant and Invescor, or between Invescor and the family members and busine ss associates of defendant who received payments from Invescor. Although the timing of plaint iff’s transfers of funds to Invescor and Invescor’s transfers to defendant is suspicious, d efendant offered sufficient evidence to establish a question of fact regarding the legitima cy of defendant’s dealings with Invescor, and whether they prove that defendant used Invescor a s a mere instrumentality.

In sum, because defendant’s evidence establishes the existence of genuine issues of material fact regarding whether defendant used Invescor as a me re instrumentality, the trial court erred in granting plaintiff’s motion for summary disposition on its claim to pierce the corporate veil.

B. COMMISSION OF A WRONG OR FRAUD ON PLAINTIFF

Defendant argues that the trial court also erred in finding th at he used Invescor’s allegedly false corporate distin ction to commit a wrong against plaintiff. Defendant contends that Invescor’s failure to pay a debt is insufficient to support the second element of piercing the corporate veil. We disagree.

The trial court cited Tredit Tire & Wheel Co, In c v Regency Conversions, LLC , 636 F Supp 2d 598 (ED Mich, 2009), in support of its conclusion that Invescor’s breach of its contract with plaintiff was sufficient to establish a sufficient wrong a gainst plaintiff. While we note that Tredit is not binding, because the Court’ s decision was largely based on its reasoning, we will-6- review its analysis. In Tredit , the plaintiff in a breach of contract action against the defe ndant, Regency Conversions, sought to pi erce the corporate veil to rea ch assets held by the defendant, WB Automotive Holdings (“WBAH” ). WBAH moved for summary judgme nt for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted. Id . at 600-601. Applying Michigan law, the federal court concluded that the plaintiff “alleged facts which, if pro ven, would permit the conclusion that Regency became a mere instrumentality of WBAH.” Id . at 602. The court also held that the plaintiff’s allegations satisfied the “fraud or wrong” element by alleging that the defendants breached the contract. The court held that breach of contract is sufficient to satisfy this element, regardless of whether the parent company perpetrated an actual fraud. Id ., citing Herman v Mobile Homes Corp , 317 Mich 233; 26 NW2d 757 (1947).

We disagree with defendant’s argument that Tredit is distinguishable from the instant case because Tredit concerned a motion for summary judgment for failure to state c laim on which relief can be granted. This procedural distinction is no t material to the legal holding in Tredit that a corporate party’s breachof contract is legally suffici ent to constitute the wrongful act necessary to establish the second requirement of piercing t he corporate veil. Thus, the evidence that Invescor breached its loan agreement with plainti ff is sufficient to support the existence of a legally sufficient wrong necessary to establish the second element of piercing the corporate veil. Defendant did not offer any evidence to show that Invescor did not breach its contract with plaintiff, and thus failed to demonstrate a genui ne issue of material fact regarding this element.

We reject defendant’s argument that the evidence fails to esta blish the second element because it was Invescor, not himself, who committed the breach of contract. This argument is misplaced because the pertinent inquiry is whether the entity w as used to commit a wrong or fraud. Rymal , 262 Mich App at 293-294. In Green v Ziegelman , 310 Mich App 436, 458; 873 NW2d 794 (2015), this Court stated:

The court . . . must determine whether the manner of use effec ted a fraud or wrong on the complainant. . . . In considering this element , it is not necessary to prove that the owner caused the entity to directly harm the complainant; it is sufficient that the owner exercis ed his or her control over the entity in such a manner as to wrong the complainant. . . . But it bears repeati ng that establishing an entity for the purpose of avoiding personal responsibility i s not by itself a wrong that would warrant disregard ing the entity’s separate exi stence. [Citations omitted.]

Evidence that defendant manipulated Invescor in such a manner t hat Invescor was left without sufficient assets to meet its obligations to plaintiff would su pport a conclusion that the entity, Invescor, was used to commit a wrong. Thus, to the extent thatplaintiff is able to prove that defendant used Invescor as a mere instrumentality, the second e lement of piercing the corporate veil, that defendant used his c ontrol over the en tity to cause injury to plaintiff, would be established, given that there is no question of material fact that Invescor breached the loan agreements with plaintiff.

C. UNJUST INJURY OR LOSS TO PLAINTIFF-7- Defendant also argues that he presented evidence to establish a genuine question of fact regarding the third element of piercing the corporate veil, tha t the plaintiff sustained an unfair loss or injury. Rymal , 262 Mich App at 293-294. Plaintiff argues that defendant’s d eceptive accounting practices, his misrepresentations about Invescor’s f inancial condition, and his transfers of Invescor’s assets to himself and his associates, are sufficient to show that it sustained an unjust loss as opposed to a fa iled investment. Defendant po ints out that plaintiff did not plead a claim of fraudulent misrepresentation, but a claim for pierci ng the corporate veil does not require the plaintiff to plead a separate tort against the indi vidual defendant. The pertinent inquiry is whether the individual defendant abused the corporat e status to cause harm to the plaintiff. Foodland Distrib , 220 Mich App at 456. Accordingly, evidence that defendant us ed deception to induce plaintiff t o invest in Invescor may satisfy the third element.

Plaintiff contends that it was unjustly injured because defend ant used deceptive accounting practices to conceal Inve scor’s true financial state and falsely present incomplete and potential transactions as assets with actual value. Defendant denies using deceptive accounting practices and contends that Inve scor’s procedures for listing p otential life settlements as assets according to the stage of the transaction did not violate GAAP, and that the nature of these assets were disclosed to plaintiff in the documents that defendant pro duced for plaintiff’s due diligence consultants. The trial court di d not address the parties’ argu ments about recording incomplete transactions as assets, but found generally that plaintiff woul d not have entered into the loan agreement with Invescor if it had known the true condition of I nvescor’s finances.

Plaintiff argues that the inclu sion of unsold policies as inve ntory or accounts receivable inflated the value of Invescor as determined from the 2006 and 2007 balance sheets that plaintiff received before entering into the loan transactions with Invesc or. Plaintiff contends that it did not have sufficient materials to understand the nature of these “phantom assets” until the prior lawsuit, when plaintiff was able to review Invescor’s finances according to cash-based rather than accrual-based accounting. Defendant justifies his account ing method as suitable for the life settlement industry. He emphasizes that before the policies we re sold, they were an asset adding value to Invescor because Invescorobtained the exclusive right to sell those policies.

The 2007 balance sheet listed three items under the “Current As sets” heading: (1) cash in banks ($55,606), (2) accounts receivable – life insurance ($59, 160), and (3) accounts receivable – life settlement ($6,476,361). The 2007 balance sheet is acco mpanied by a document entitled, “Note 1: Nature of Operations and Accounting Methods,” which st ated:

Life Settlement: The Company r ecords accounts receivable on a 5 stage basis, stage 1 through 3 being les s collectable than stage 4 an d 5. Attached are the calculations for the various sta ges which includes [sic] an all owance for doubtful
accounts.

The 2007 balance sheet also has an attachment entitled “Account s receivable detail,” which listed these amounts:

Application Stage Rec (1,2,3) $2,632,000.00

Application Stage Reserve $ (840,000.00)-8- Offer Stage Rec (4) $2,827,616.72

Offer Stage Reserve $ (331,102.66)

Closing Stage (5) $ 1,189,994.00

Closing Stage Reserve $ (3,147.39)

Plaintiff does not indicate whether it received the attachments to the 2007 balance sheet, or whether this information could ha ve alerted plaintiff to the pr oblem with recording incomplete settlement transactions as assets.

Plaintiff asserts that defendant admitted in his testimony tha t no money changed hands during the early stages of the sale of the policies as life set tlements. Defendant testified as follows:

Q . So for each application in stage 1, there is an actual sale of the life settlement policy?

A . No. A customer comes to us, asking us to sell their policy. Stage 1 is when we receive the file and we ev aluate that it’s viable for s ale.

Q . So what is the transaction?

A . The customer has submitted to us an application for sale of his or her life insurance policy.

Q . And so is the sale made?

A . The sale would not be made until stage 5. . . .

No monies have transferred hands until stage 5.

Defendant stated that at stage one, “[t]here is no sale in the sense that the customer has given up ownership yet. They have put the product on the market for sal e.” Invescor did not “take ownership at any part of the process,” but Invescor had “exclus ivity on the sale.” Defendant explained that once the file was submitted to Invescor, the cli ent “has exclusively assigned it to us to send it out to bid for the highest price.” Defendant exp lained that at stage one, the policy was “in the process of seeing if somebody wants to buy it, and we have already determined that the market would accept this policy.” According to defendant, at this point there was not yet a buyer, “and that’s one of the reasons we create the reserve.” Invescor recorded the estimated commission. Defendant stated that estimating the value in this manner was acceptable under GAAP and in accrual-basis accounting.

Plaintiff maintains that defendant’s “awaiting market” categor y on the financial statements was an especially egr egious false representation. A ccording to plaintiff, this category was entirely fictional, even when the reserve is taken into con sideration. Defendant admitted in-9- his deposition that Invescor did not have ownership of policies that were placed in the “awaiting market” category. He stated:

Awaiting market was a firm written bid by a provider stating t hat they would buy the capital—they were p urchasing the policies as soonas their capital sources were funded. This was a change in the industry and tha t change was that their credit lines were disapp earing and they were looking for new funding sources. They wanted to buy those policies, they gave us firm commitments to them. We had to put them in a different category because we di d not have—they weren’t going to buy them at stage 5 in 30 days. They asked us to await and hold that file for them.”

The buyers of these policies rep resented that “they had funding coming through,” but this did not take place. Although plaintiff c ontends that defendant and Inv escor’s accountant, Charles Kessler, knew that these accoun ting methodologies were invalid, the evidence that plaintiff cites in support of this contention doe s not reflect any recognition that the methods were deceptive or invalid. Kessler testified that this method was “pretty unique ,” and that defendant helped develop the method, but Kessler indicated that this method refl ected the realities of the life settlement industry.

Defendant asserts that plainti ff’s due diligence advisor, Adri an Anderson, obtained all the relevant documents pertaining to the inclusion of incomplete sa les as assets. Anderson admitted in his deposition that he received the balance sheet with the a ttachment on the five stages:

Q . Did you know at the time whether or not it was based on accrual or based on cash?

A . The financial statements that were presented gave the appear ance that the profits were cash.

Q . No, no. Don’t tell me if they gave an appearance. They als o gave an appearance that one through five of the staging of the settleme nt insurance policies --

A . We just--

Q . Let me finish my question. You know that various stages of the settlement policy process were col lectible versus less collecti ble, did you not?

A . Yes.

Q . And all of those terms in terms of the values of the policie s in each stage one through five were contained on the balance sheet that you got, on the profit and loss?

A . Yeah, we looked at the bottom line on the P and L as prepare d by the CPA firm.-10- Q . Okay. Do you have any reason to believe that the informatio n provided was fraudulent?

A . No.

Q . Do you have any reason to believe that the information provi ded was not true?

A . No.

Q . Do you have any reason to believe that anybody on behalf of Invescor made any misrepresent ations whatsoever?

A . No.

Defendant contends that the documents provided to plaintiff’s due diligence consultants included information disclosing the method of recording life in surance policies that were intended for sale to providers, and which defendant had the exc lusive right to sell as life settlements, but were not yet sold. Defendant cites Nieves v Bell Indus, Inc , 204 Mich App 459, 464; 517 NW2d 235 (1994) for the principle that “[t]here can be no fraud where a person has the means to determine that a representation is not true.” Plainti ff argues that Nieves is factually distinguishable. In Nieves , the plaintiff was orally informed during a job interview that the position was “long-term,” and that the employer would not termi nate employment “arbitrarily.” The plaintiff was offered the position, and subsequently signed a written application that stated that employment was terminable at the will of the employer. Th e plaintiff was given an oral assurance that this provision did not apply to him. Id . at 460-461. The plaintiff accepted the employment, and was subsequently terminated. The plaintiff bro ught an action against the defendant employer for wrongful discharge and misrepresentation

. Id . at 462. This Court held that the trial court should have dismissed the plaintiff’s misr epresentation claim, stating, “A misrepresentation claim require s reasonable reliance on a false representation. . . . There can be no fraud where a person has the m eans to determine that a repre sentation is not true.” Id . at 464.

Plaintiff contends that Nieves is distinguishable because the plaintiff in that case should have known from the written agreements that the prior oral assurance of just-cause employment was false. Plaintiff contends that there was only “a mere poss ibility” that it could have discovered the falsity of the financial statements through its due diligence advisor. However, the attachments to the 2007 balance s heet arguably gave plaintiff’s advisors information concerning the recording of acc ounts receivable. The attached Note states , “The Company records accounts receivable on a 5 stage basis, stage 1 through 3 being less col lectable Attached are the calculations for the various stage s which includes [sic] an all owance for doubtful accounts.” This attachment supports defendant’s argument that there was no misrepresentation because plaintiff was provided with the relevant information. Accordin gly, the evidence establishes a question of fact regarding whethe r plaintiff sustained an unjus t injury or loss. Rymal , 262 Mich App at 293-294. If defendant provided the information, but pla intiff’s advisors overlooked it or misunderstood it, then plaintiff’ s injury could be attributable to its advisors’ actions. Plaintiff argues that defendant’s fraud cannot be excused merely because plaintiff might have discovered-11- it, but this is not an accurate c haracterization if defendant a ctually provided the documents containing the necessary information.

Plaintiff argues that defendant failed to offer evidence that Invescor’s procedure for recording unsold life insurance policies as accounts receivable or inventory is an accepted practice under GAAP. However, plaintiff failed to offer eviden ce that it is not. Plaintiff’s evidence that defendant and Kessl er exchanged e-mails about thi s practice, and that Kessler testified in his deposition that he did not develop the practic e, does not negate the existence of a question of fact over the legitimacy of the practice. Kessler testified that he did not independently verify that this accounting practice is appropriate in the life settlement industry, and he referred to the method as “pretty unique,” but he also s tated that the method “made sense” to him. Plaintiff has not offered any other evidence that defe ndant’s practice was inherently deceptive or unethical.

Plaintiff stated that defendant f alsely represented that the f unds loaned by plaintiff would be allocated toward expanding Inve scor’s business. Plaintiff c ited e-mails exchanged between defendant and Adrian Anderson rega rding plaintiff’s demand for a personal guarantee. Plaintiff also cites defendant’s Executive Summary stating that funds inv ested by plaintiff would be used toward expanding Invescor’s business. But plaintiff does not o ffer any evidence that defendant made a commitment to using the funds only for expansion of Inve scor’s business.

In sum, the evidence establishe d sufficient questions of fact regarding defendant’s alleged use of Invescor as a mere instrumentality, and regarding whethe r plaintiff sustained an unjust loss attributable to defendant’s alleged abuse of the corporate form. Accordingly, the trial court erred in granting plaintiff’s mo tion for summary disposition.

D. THE GLENN FACTORS

Defendant argues that this Court’s decision in Glenn requires that the trial court conduct a fact-specific analysis, taking into account each of the factors stated in Glenn , 305 Mich App at 716. These factors are: “(1) whether the corporation is underc apitalized, (2) whether separate books are kept, (3) whether there are separate finances for the corporation, (4) whether the corporation is used for fraud or illegality, (5) whether corpor ate formalities have been followed, and (6) whether the corporation is a sham.” Id. However, the Court in Glenn did not mandate consideration of each of these factors, but instead commented “ [t]here is no single rule delineating when the corporate entity may be disregarded,” beca use the “entire spectrum of relevant fact forms the background for such an inquiry . . . .” Id . This Court stated that these factors are “used by courts to determine the propriety of pierc ing the corporate veil,” and that these factors are “include[d]” in the analysis. Id . Therefore, explicit c onsideration of each of these factors is not required.

III. JURY TRIAL

Defendant argues that because he filed a jury demand with his answer to plaintiff’s complaint, he is entitled to ajury trial on remand. We disagr ee.
A party’s right to a jury trial depends on whether the constit ution or a statu te confers such a right. Madugula v Taub , 496 Mich 685, 696; 853 NW2d 75 (2014). Questions of-12- constitutional law are reviewed de novo. Champion v Secretary of State , 281 Mich App 307, 309; 761 NW2d 747 (2008). Issues concerning the interpretation and application of court rules are reviewed de novo. Haliw v City of Sterling Hts , 471 Mich 700, 704-705; 691 NW2d 753 (2005).

Preliminarily, we reject defendant’s argument that he was enti tled to an immediate trial under MCR 2.116(I)(3). That court rule provides:

A court may, under proper circumstances, order immediate trial to resolve any disputed issue of fact, and judgment may be entered forthwi th if the proofs show that a party is entitled to judgment on the facts as deter mined by the court. An immediate trial may be ordered if the grounds asserted are based on subrules (C)(1) through (C)(6), or if the motion is based on subrule (C)(7) and a jury trial as of right has not been demanded on or before the date set for hearing. If the motion is based on subrule (C)(7) and a jury trial has been dem anded, the court may order immediate trial, but must afford the parties a jury t rial as to issues raised by the motion as to which there is a right to trial by j ury. [Emphasis added.]

Plaintiff’s motion for summary disposition was brought under MC R 2.116(C)(10), and therefore, was not within the scope of th e immediate trial provision under subrule (I)(3).

Regarding defendant’s claim that he is entitled to a jury tria l, Const 1963, art 1, § 14 provides that “[t]he right of tr ial by jury shall remain, but s hall be waived in all civil cases unless demanded by one of the parties in the manner prescribed by law. ” “To determine whether a constitutional right to a jury trial attaches to a claim,” this Court considers whether the nature of the claim would have been considered legal in nature at the tim e our Constitution was adopted. Madugula , 496 Mich at 705-706. If the nature of the controversy is equ itable, “then it must be heard before a court of equity.” Id . This determination depends upon both the nature of the underlying claim and “the relief that the claimant seeks.” Id . at 706. Piercing of the corporate veil is an equitable remedy. Foodland Distrib , 220 Mich App at 456.

Defendant acknowledges that a claim to pierce the corporate ve il sounds in equity, and therefore, he is not entitled to a jury trial on that claim. H e argues, however, that he is entitled to a jury trial with regard to plaintiff’s claim for breach of con tract. “[I]n cases involving both equitable and legal issues, juries may decide factual issues re lating to a claim for money damages, while judges retain the authority to determine the fac ts as they relate to equitable remedies such as specific performance or injunction.” ECCO Ltd v Balimoy Mfg Co , 179 Mich App 748, 751; 446 NW2d 546 (1989). Plaintiff argues that it ha s not alleged a breach of contract claim separate from the veil-piercing claim, because the only b reach is Invescor’s breach of its loan agreements with plaintiff, and plaintiff already obtained a default judgment against Invescor for that breach of contract. Consequently, there is no separat e jury-triable claim. We agree with plaintiff.

In Gallagher v Persha , ___ Mich App ___; ___ NW2d ___ (2016) (Docket Nos. 327840 and 325471), the plaintiff sued acorporate defendant, Kaper, and an individual defendant, Kathleen Persha, for breach of fiduciary duty and fraud with re gard to a failed mortgage-13- transaction. Id . at ___; slip op at 2. The pla intiff obtained a judgment agai nst Kaper pursuant to case evaluation, but Persha reject ed the case evaluation. The parties stipulated to dismiss the plaintiff’s remaining claims aga inst Persha without prejudice. Id . at ___; slip op at 2. The plaintiff then brought a three-c ount complaint against Persha, raising claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and piercing the corporate veil. The trial court dismissed the first two claims, respectively on grounds of prior di smissal and the plaintiff’s failure to plead a valid claim for relief against the defendant. T he trial court then dismissed t he veil-piercing claim on the ground that it was no longer supported by an underlying cause of actio n. Id . at ___; slip op at 2-3. On appeal, this Court held that wher e a plaintiff has already obta ined a judgment against a corporate defendant on a cause of action, an d subsequently seeks to enfor ce that judgment against an individual defendant on a theoryof piercing the corporate veil , the cause of action is merged into the judgment that the plaintiff seeks to enforce, and there is no need to obtain a second judgment against the individual defendant on the underlying claim. Id . at ___; slip op at 8. This Court stated:

A corporate veil is pierced and liability imposed upon an indiv idual shareholder or officer not because the shareholder or officer was necessari ly liable under the cause of action resulting in the judgment against the corporati on. . . . Instead, liability is imposed because the fact finder has concluded that the individual so misused the corporation that it was unable to pa y on the outsta nding judgment and an injustice would occur if it the corporate form was not ignor ed. [ Id . at ___; slip op at 9.]

This Court further concluded that, “when a judgment already exi sts against a corporate entity, an additional cause of action is not needed to impose liability ag ainst a shareholder or officer if a court finds the necessary facts to pierce the corporate veil.” Id . at ___; slip op at 10. These principles apply to this case, given that plaintiff has already obtained a default judgment against Invescor, and now seeks to impose liability on defendant throug h a claim of piercing the corporate veil. Accordingly, plai ntiff’s claim for breach of c ontract was merged into the judgment that plaintiff now atte mpts to enforce against defendant.

Reversed and remanded for further proceedings. We do not reta in jurisdiction.

/s/ Cynthia Diane Stephens /s/ Deborah A. Servitto /s/ Douglas B. Shapiro