5xen left this once-thriving Milwaukee Asian market in terrible shape, suit says.
A once-thriving Milwaukee Asian market was left in dire shape by a company now being sued for what could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages.
5xen Inc. operated the market, 6300 N. 76th St., from April 2020 until Jan. 7. That's when control of the property was turned back over to Pai Yang, who launched the business, Phongsavan Asian Market, in 2009 and completed a major expansion in 2016.
Pai Yang sold the business to 5xen three years ago through a land contract. As a result, she remained on the hook for the property's mortgage debt even though 5xen agreed to take over making payments to the bank.
When 5xen stopped making mortgage payments, Chicago-based Byline Bank in 2022 filed a foreclosure suit and obtained a judgment. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Thomas McAdams earlier this month ordered 5xen to turn the property over to Yang after the company failed to make a $3.6 million payment to her.
In a new suit filed Friday, Yang says 5xen damaged the property and committed theft by removing a large number of fixtures and equipment. The court filing also says 5xen owes $11,920 in January rent collected from the market's vendors.
The property "was in terrible condition" when Yang took possession of it, said her attorney, Jason Baltz, at a Friday hearing.
"It is basically a barren property," Baltz told McAdams.
Yang also is seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent 5xen from selling or mortgaging a neighboring property it owns at 6270 N. 76th St. Baltz said that building could eventually be used to pay down damages Yang hopes to collect from the company.
Baltz said those damages could total hundreds of thousands of dollars.
5xen co-owner Kay Yang (no relation to Pai Yang) represented herself at the hearing and repeatedly asked to read a statement and ask questions of Judge McAdams.
McAdams told Kay Yang she needed an attorney to represent 5xen, and that she wasn't allowed to "cross examine the court."
5xen's $20 million expansion plan for the market never happened amid legal trouble tied to Kay Yang's activities as an investment advisor.
She acted as an unregistered investment adviser through two firms, AK Equity Group LLC and Xapphire LLC, the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions ruled in July 2020
The department ordered Yang to pay restitution of nearly $17 million within five years to investors. She also was ordered to repay $4.2 million in commissions and pay a $50,000 civil penalty.
In February 2022, a search warrant affidavit filed in U.S. District Court said Yang was the subject of a criminal investigation for alleged money laundering and wire fraud.
A default judgment against Yang is pending in that SEC case.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 5xen sued for leaving once-thriving Asian market in 'terrible' shape
