Court date set for campus coffee shop scandal

 

Illustration by Olivia Wise
Illustration by Olivia Wise

By Dina Boyer
The Guardsman

Former Bean Scene Operators and Owner’s Amy Nget, Vannary Seng and Ho Seng, are scheduled to appear in court April 6,  2015 for failure to  pay rent on space they leased at the  City College Downtown Center.

But Deputy General Counsel Leilani Battiste submitted documents on Dec. 16, 2104 seeking a  “summary judgement” in favor of City College.

Defendants Hoa and Vannary Seng owe the college for 25 months of back rent, but Battiste said, “it’s a debt and not a legal matter,” so the college filed a motion to dismiss the hearing because it’s not a triable issue. Superior Court of California documents show the defendants have not provided a defense to the complaint.

Nget was granted the lease in 2005 to run the Organic Coffee Company at the Downtown Center. Superior court documents also indicate Nget transferred ownership of the Organic Coffee Company to Hoa and Vannary Seng in 2007. After the Seng’s took over, they stopped making rent payments that ranged from $4,050 to $4,500 per month.

Nget has an address listed on the court documents in both Hayward and Sunnyvale, and the Seng’s also have addresses in Sunnyvale, but they could not be reached for comment.

An online business search identifies a company called The Bean Scene Cafe that was dissolved in 2004, but a company with the same name shows it as an active business in Sunnyvale, California. The owner’s names on the business in Sunnyvale do not match the names of the individuals involved in the lawsuit.

Bean Scene was also part of an investigation led by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris involving former Chancellor Philip Day for illegally directing funds to a college-sponsored bond measure campaign. Local news reports triggered the investigation.

Records show that Bean Scene operator Nget issued a check for $20,000 to the political action committee, which was returned to her following the investigation. The whole ordeal was resolved after Day pleaded guilty.

Geisce Ly, Downtown Center dean, said the space is now being used by the college’s culinary department.