Facts

Defendant Jianping Qu, a Chinese businessman, emigrated to Fremont in the 1990s. He formed Prediwave, a company that purports to own exclusive technology that can deliver video-on-demand television to households. Defendant accepted hundreds of millions of dollars from plaintiff New World T.M.T., and a dispute arose concerning the video-on-demand boxes that were ordered. Plaintiff sued, claiming, inter alia, fraud.

During litigation, defendant had enaged in perjury in depositions. He then failed to comply with a court order that he appear at a deposition to answer questions about his false testimony. He also did not appear at a court-ordered mandatory settlement conference. Through his counsel defendant stated he would also not appear for trial, and a terminating sanctions order struck defendant's answer and PrediWave's cross-complaint. A default was issued against them.

Result

Plaintiff was awarded $2.8 billion, which included $2 billion in punitive damages and $3.8 million in attorney fees.