MIAMI — A federal court has granted parts of a Florida investment company's motion to strike claims in a lawsuit involving a dispute over the managing, renovation and $13.5 million sale of a Pompano Beach resort hotel.
According to the June 13 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida filing, defendants BNH IV HM TRI LLC and Hillsboro Mile LLC petitioned the court to strike the counterclaims of plaintiffs Arturo Rubinstein, Fab Rock Investments, LLC and Oceanside Mile LLC in a suit involving a business deal over the Sea Bonay Beach Resort.
Rubinstein's lawsuit stems from Yoram and Sharona Yehuda, a couple who formed a company called Oceanside, in order to purchase, renovate and manage the Sea Bonay in 2006. According to the court filing, the Yehudas transferred all their interests from Oceanside into a trust in which nearly 50 percent of the company's equity was sold to "other individuals/entities." After facing foreclosure in 2012, the Yehudas asked Rubinstein, the manager of Fab Rock Investments, to offer "his personal guaranty" to Oceanside's lender to extend the loan maturity date, which he failed to do, resulting in the Yehuda's trust assigning their interests to Fab Rock.
Rubinstein allowed the Yehudas to continue their operation of the hotel and also made payments on a multimillion loan to help Oceanside escape the bankruptcy it filed in 2013.
In 2016, after discovering the Yehudas alledgely misappropriated money, Rubinstein tried to seize control of the hotel and entered into "transactions" without his consent, Rubinstein filed suit in order to remove the Yehudas from the hotel's operation and management. In 2017, the Yehudas sold the property for $13.5 million with Sharona Yehuda falsely signing the deed to the property as "sole manager."
The Yehudas argue that Rubinstein "had no interest in Oceanside" due to the trust allowing an "option to reacquire all of Fab Rock’s interest in Oceanside and allege Rubinstein's affirmative defenses "lack any factual allegations" and are "confusing, vague and conclusory."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres concluded that 11 of Rubinstein's affirmative defenses were "inadequate" and "lack factual support" based on case precedent while denying to strike the remaining three affirmative defenses.