NEXA Mortgage's CEO, Mike Kortas, is accusing his former partner, Mat Grella, of a number of infractions, including compromising the purchase of a $24 million hangar office property, in a recently filed suit in Maricopa County, Arizona.
This development comes
A suit filed April 29 by NEXA lays out a number of charges against Grella such as breaching an implied covenant of good faith, breaching a contract, defamation and tortious interference with business expectancies.
Regarding the purchase of the five-acre airport ground leasehold, Kortas accuses Grella of infringing on the purchase by communicating with the sellers of the land and making "disparaging, knowingly untrue, and damaging remarks about NEXA and Kortas."
Specifically, Grella allegedly penned a letter to the property's seller and a title company "objecting to the purchase of the hangar office property by NEXA, stating...that NEXA was not authorized to purchase the hangar office property," the suit said.
The purchase of the property, which fell through, would've benefited the company by giving it a physical home base for its mortgage and aviation-related operations, the complaint claims.
Kortas also purports his former co-owner pocketed two company cars, a Cadillac and Nissan, either selling them off or keeping them in "detriment of NEXA."
Grella on the other hand denies both accusations, calling them ridiculous in a written statement Monday.
"NEXA's recently filed lawsuit alleges that blocking a $24 million aircraft hangar purchase is an action that breached my fiduciary duties. I look forward to proving how ridiculous this notion and the other claims made against me are in court of law," he wrote in an email. "These purchases were extravagant and not necessary to NEXA's work as a mortgage brokerage. As detailed in my amended complaint, it was after raising these concerns that I was wrongfully terminated on March 20."
Grella added his termination was retaliatory.
"My amended complaint also takes the position that, due to Mr. Kortas' unequal distributions of company profits, he has diluted his interest in the company such that I am now majority shareholder and a co-manager, with the right to manage the company's day to day operations." he wrote.
Kortas and Grella have a 50.5 percent and 49.5 percent stake in the company, respectively, documents show. Kortas is in charge of growth, while Grella was in charge of operations at the company.
The suit by Kortas also alleges he initially fired his former co-owner because Grella signed and filed an invalid amendment to NEXA's articles of organization with the Arizona Corporation Commission, adding himself as the new manager of NEXA.
It is unclear why Grella would file such an amendment. He would not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to both parties, Grella was planning to leave the company as of late 2023.
NEXA's CEO is asking the court for an injunction against Grella ordering he cease any further public statements about the brokerage or Kortas, as well as for punitive damages.
