Cleary Gottlieb Secures Arbitration Victory and Turnover Order for The Resource Group International

Cleary Gottlieb represented The Resource Group International (TRG-I) in a bet-the-company arbitration brought against its former CEO and founder, Muhammad Ziaullah Khan Chishti, and in subsequent enforcement proceedings involving Mr. Chishti and his wife, Sarah Pobereskin. In February 2025 TRG-I argued that Mr. Chishti had sold and pledged his shares of a TRG-I affiliate, TRG-P, in breach of a share purchase agreement (SPA). The arbitral tribunal agreed that Mr. Chishti breached the SPA, enjoined future breaches, and—pursuant to a “loser pays” provision—awarded TRG-I more than $9 million in fees and costs. Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed the award in full in June 2025, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed that confirmation in May 2026. After Mr. Chishti failed to satisfy the judgment, TRG-I pursued post-award asset discovery, which revealed that Mr. Chishti had transferred over $40 million to his wife, Sarah Pobereskin, largely to purchase TRG-P shares and futures and to fund Isbei Limited, a company purportedly founded by Ms. Pobereskin. Following briefing and an evidentiary hearing in December 2025, the court froze approximately $1.2 million in a bank account in Ms. Pobereskin’s name as likely proceeds of fraudulent conveyances; TRG-I subsequently recovered approximately $800,000, while more than $8 million remained unpaid. In March 2026 TRG-I moved for turnover of TRG-P and Isbei securities held in Ms. Pobereskin’s name, contending that Mr. Chishti had fraudulently conveyed assets to her. After a four-day bench trial and post-trial briefing, on June 18, 2026 Judge Rakoff found that Mr. Chishti had fraudulently conveyed approximately $8.675 million to Ms. Pobereskin and had constructively fraudulently conveyed an additional $1.1 million. The court rejected Ms. Pobereskin’s unclean hands defense, voided those transfers, and ordered her to pay the lesser of $9.8 million or the outstanding balance on TRG-I’s judgment within 30 days. Cleary Gottlieb represented The Resource Group International (TRG-I) with a team composed by: partners Jeffrey Rosenthal, Lisa Vicens, Mark McDonald, and Katie Gonzalez, and associates Lilianna Rembar, Jessica Cuddihy, Peter Carzis, Sydney Massenberg, Ryken Kreps, and Jake Perlmutter.

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Cleary Gottlieb Secures Arbitration Victory and Turnover Order for The Resource Group International

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Cleary Gottlieb Secures Arbitration Victory and Turnover Order for The Resource Group International

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