M&T disputes couple's claims of being conned
M&T Bank is opposing an effort by the couple who lived and ran two businesses on Route 9 to regain the property amid claims they were scammed and bullied by an acquaintance now charged with grand larceny and fraud.
In documents filed on Feb. 27, Valerie Breen, a senior vice president with M&T, and Seth Hibbert, an attorney for the bank, are challenging claims made by Sokhara Kim and Chakra Oeur in response to their eviction on Dec. 9 from 3154 Route 9. Kim and Oeur have petitioned Judge Gina Capone to vacate her approval in 2024 of M&T's foreclosure and sale of the property.
From 1995 to early 2024, the property was owned by Kim through Mary Dawn Inc. and hosted her business, Nice & Neat Dry Cleaners; a residence she shared with Oeur; and a nail salon. The couple blames the loss of the property on Derek Keith Williams, whom they say convinced Kim that he had paid off a $570,000 loan secured by the property and transferred it to an entity he owned.
The couple alleges that Williams hid the foreclosure by demanding that Kim "turn over any mail or paperwork relating to the property, Mary Dawn Inc., any court or any bank," and sign documents and submit filings without explaining what they were, said their attorney, Jacob Chen.
Those claims are "entirely irrelevant" to M&T's right to collect on its debt, according to Breen, who said the bank became aware in 2019 that Kim was attempting to transfer the property to Williams. During the bank's "long and tortured history" with the property, it seemed "that Kim and Williams were working in concert to prevent and hinder the bank's recovery and collection efforts," she said.
In his statement, Hibbert said "there did not appear to be any animosity between Kim and Williams" when they appeared in Philipstown Court in March 2025 to challenge the eviction. "My impression was the two were working in conjunction with each other, with each operating under their respective free wills," he said.

Williams, a self-described "sovereign citizen," had been serving a six-month sentence in the county jail for driving an unregistered vehicle without a license when he was arraigned Feb. 25 on six felony counts: four for grand larceny and two for filing a false instrument with the intent to defraud. He pleaded not guilty before Judge Anthony Mole and was ordered held on $100,000 cash bail, $200,000 insured bond or $200,000 partially insured bond. He is scheduled to return to court on April 8.
Kim said in court documents that by the time she met Williams in 2019 — through his girlfriend, Mauny Bun, who used to run the nail salon — the loan she used to rebuild the property after a fire in 2005 had been taken over by M&T Bank.
Bun "reminded me a lot of my daughter … and I put a lot of trust and faith in her," said Kim. She stopped making payments after deciding to accept Williams' offer to buy the property for $1.2 million and transfer it to an entity called DKW Trust, none of which happened.
Although Kim guaranteed the loan, said Breen, she did not have the authority to transfer the property to Williams because Mary Dawn is the owner of record. The bank eventually sued Kim and Mary Dawn for defaulting on the loan and in 2021 won a judgment in Erie County, where the bank is based. M&T filed to foreclose in 2022, and Capone approved the bank's request in February 2024. Four months later, a bank subsidiary, Chesapeake Holdings, paid $620,200 for the property at an auction.
Chen alleges that the court "never acquired personal jurisdiction" over Kim during the foreclosure because the process server handed the original documents to a "co-worker." Chen also said that Oeur should have been included as a party to the foreclosure proceeding because he lived at the property and managed the Khmer Art Gallery.
After the bank filed for foreclosure in 2022, said Breen, "it is entirely unreasonable" to believe that Williams confiscated mail sent to Mary Dawn and Kim before Septe...

Bank Opposes Return of Route 9 Property