DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the cross appeal of the plaintiff Ratzon Kochavi is dismissed as abandoned (see 22 NYCRR 670.8[c], [e]); and it is further,
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed insofar as reviewed, without costs or disbursements.
The determination of a court after a nonjury trial should not be disturbed on appeal unless it is clear that its conclusion could not have been reached under any fair interpretation of the evidence (see Binns v. Billhimer, 271 A.D.2d 562, 563). The evidence adduced at the trial supported the Supreme Court's finding that the defendant personally guaranteed the payment of $80,000 to each of the plaintiffs in the event of the failure of their business venture.
The Supreme Court was authorized as fact-finder to make a determination as to the genuineness of the defendant's signature on the guarantees, and it determined, inter alia, that the defendant's signature on the first guarantee was genuine and binding and that his signature on the third guarantee appeared to be forged (see CPLR 4536; People v. Hunter, 34 N.Y.2d 432, 435-36; People v. Hoffman, 111 A.D.2d 411). Notwithstanding that the defendant failed to plead forgery as an affirmative defense, he was properly permitted to offer evidence as to the genuineness of the signatures (see Eggleson v. Trustees of General Elec. Pension Trust, 238 A.D.2d 871, 872; Seaboard Sur. Co. v. Nigro Bros., 222 A.D.2d 574; Bank Audi v. Blitz, 201 A.D.2d 257).
SANTUCCI, J.P., SMITH, McGINITY and SCHMIDT, JJ., concur.