MIAMI — A local investor and a company sued for unjust enrichment and tortious interference regarding the operation of a Broward County hotel had a motion to strike an inter vivos trust granted in part and denied in part.
U.S. District Judge Edwin Torres, on the bench of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, issued a 16-page ruling on Jan. 23, granting and denying in part a motion to strike the Keshet Inter Vivos Trust, filed by Arturo Rubinstein.
Rubinstein sued the trust and its investors Yoran and Sharona Yehuda over allegations of racketeering laws, as well as tortious interference and unjust enrichment over the purchase of a hotel in Broward County and the founding of a company, Oceanside, which had funds transferred to the Keshet trust, as well as to other entities.
The plaintiff motion sought to strike several trust defenses containing "various pleading deficiencies."
"Plaintiffs argue that Defendants’ 'general allegations' should be stricken because they contain denials of the allegations presented and do not constitute affirmative defenses," the ruling said.
The part of the motion regarding the general allegations was denied.
"Plaintiffs’ argument is misplaced because, as Defendants state in their response, the five pages of 'general allegations' serve nothing more than to better inform the Court of Defendants’ specific defenses. Indeed, this portion of Defendants’ answer merely lays out the facts that give rise to the defenses presented—meaning they are obviously not affirmative defenses because they constitute Defendants’ recitation of the facts in this case," the ruling said.
In his ruling, Judge Torres also denied the motion in the parts concerning recoupment, estoppel, and in pari delicto.
Torres granted the motion regarding the affirmative defense of fraud in inducement, as well as on the statutory apparent authority defense.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Case number 0:17-cv-61019-KMW