UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

ZHU ZHAI HOLDINGS LIMITED and )

PETER PUI TAK LEE, )

) Case No. 20-cv-04985

Plaintiffs/Judgement Creditors, )

) Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman

v. )

) Hon Sidney I. Schenkier (Ret.),

STEVEN IVANKOVICH, ) Special Master

)

Defendant/Judgement Debtor. )

SPECIAL MASTER’S ORDER NO. 7

On July 11, 2024, plaintiffs filed a motion to compel and for sanctions (doc. # 319) based 

on a failure to provide them with EIN numbers for certain accounts pursuant to Paragraph 1 of 

Special Master’s Order No. 5 (doc. # 318). The Special Master ordered that both defendant and 

the Third Party LLCs respond to the motion by July 16, 2024. Defendant failed to file any 

response. On July 16, 2024, counsel for the Third Party LLCs filed a response to the motion, 

asserting that they already had supplied plaintiffs with that information, which can be found in 

Exs. B-C of their response.

The Special Master cannot tell from the submissions if the Third Party LLCs are correct. 

On or about June 20, 2024, plaintiffs asked for EIN numbers for certain Atlas and Alliance accounts 

as of April 15, 2019, as well as for 12 other accounts (Plaintiffs’ Mot., Ex. 2). The Third Party 

LLCs says that information can be found in Exhibits B and C to their response. But while those 

documents identify certain numbers for various accounts, they do not specify that they are EIN 

numbers and do not indicate that the accounts in Exhibit C constitute all of the Atlas and Alliance 

accounts as of April 15, 2019. And while Exhibit B lists 10 of the 12 additional accounts for which 

plaintiffs sought information, there is no information provided for two of those accounts: 

Ivankovich Family LLC and A&O LLC. In addition, the numbers provided in Exhibits B and C 

for Pilgrim Wintree Owner LLC differ: the number in Exhibit B ends in 144 but the number in 

Exhibit C ends in 131. The Special Master does not expect that both are the EIN number for the 

same account. 

Each side professes a desire to get to a hearing and resolution promptly, but neither side is 

taking the steps to make that happen. The Special Master’s Order No. 5 required defendant and 

the Third Party LLCs to provide EIN information by June 27, 2024. Plaintiffs say the defendants 

and Third Party LLCs failed to do so, but did not reach out to raise the issue with defendants and 

the Third Party LLCs until July 11, 2024. That delay does not reflect a sense of urgency. For their 

part, the defendants and Third Party LLCs continue to provide confusing and seemingly 

inconsistent information that does not make it clear that – as they profess – the information has 

been produced by them. 

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Based on the submissions, the Special Master denies the motion to compel and for 

sanctions without prejudice. The Special Master orders that by July 24, 2024, the defendants and 

the Third Party LLCs provide a new document – and not merely a reference to some prior 

documents -- that identifies the EIN number for each entity and account requested by plaintiffs. 

When producing the document, the defendants and Third Party LLCs shall make clear who 

(defendants, Third Party LLCs, or both) is producing the information. If as defendant say that 

information has been produced already, it should not be difficult for them to produce it again in a 

separate document within one week. 

Entered:

___________________________________

HON. SIDNEY I. SCHENKIER (RET.)

Special Master

July 17, 2024

Case: 1:20-cv-04985 Document #: 322 Filed: 07/17/24 Page 2 of 2 PageID #:3948