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Judge Alfonso Martinez Biovanityof the Court of San Juan, announced the acceptance of the legal ban request submitted by the investor Fahd Jaafar against His former partner companies, John Paulson, To access information from the entity Earle HC LLC, which is developing the complex Vanderbilt residencesin San Juan, but rejected a similar request related to that dio condado, Owner of the Vanderbilt and La Concha hotels.
In the first case, the judge ruled that Ghaffar – through Better Puerto Rico LLC – is a partner of Earle HC and, therefore, is entitled to the data he requested in a letter dated October 30, 2023, but Paulson Puerto Rico supposedly rejected the offer.
“From the facts specified in this judgment, circumstances arise necessary for the court to summarily order Earle, by this particular action, to provide plaintiff with access to the company’s books and records. The said conclusion is unavoidable because it arises from the totality of the evidence presented and believed by the court, as well as from the particular circumstances of this case, that Better Puerto Rico is currently a member of Earle in accordance with the operating provisions. The approval of this latter entity“, reads the partial ruling of Judge Martinez Piovannetti.
In his ruling, issued on Thursday, among other things, Martinez ordered Piovannetti Paulson to hand over all the documents he requested to Ghaffar, including an update on the sale of the hotel apartments; Construction budget update; Construction status, along with any reported delays; Update on bids received at auctions for construction work; Update on any cancellations requested by buyers; Current cash balances. Among other things.
In the lawsuit filed by Better Puerto Rico, Ghaffar claimed that he owns 44% of Earle, after investing more than $10 million in the condo hotel development, and that the project was experiencing “significant delays,” while performing “well above your expectations.” . Budget.” Earl, in turn, is part of the Paulson Puerto Rico group of companies. In the lawsuit, Paulson PRV Holdings LLC and Rafael Cedeño Paulson, the current executive vice president of Paulson Puerto Rico, appear as defendants.
According to Gaffar, Paulson attempted to “seize” Puerto Rico’s “better” participation in Earle through certain amendments to the alleged existing agreement between the parties.
During an evidentiary hearing held about two weeks ago, Paulson’s legal representative, headed by Juan Casillas, attempted to prove that Abdel Ghaffar had only financial interests in the project. But the judge rejected this theory.
Specifically, Martínez Piovannetti considered that “it should not be overlooked that Article 10 of the Operating Agreement stipulates that the profits and losses of the company will be allocated to the member only.”
“Therefore, to accept Defendant’s theory that the only thing “Better Puerto Rico” gained was merely an economic interest, without greater participation rights, would mean recognizing a class of direct investors with respect to IRL that was not even contemplated in the operating agreement,” the ruling adds, adding that CRL ( Limited Liability Company) This.
They will appeal the ruling
Jose Andrew Fuentes, the lawyer leading Ghaffar’s legal team, stressed that the judge’s decision constitutes an “indisputable victory” for his client.
“As we have said all along, Paulson’s criminal actions will not stand up in court. Our client invested $11 million and years of work, and Paulson refused to acknowledge him as owner. The court found Ghaffar to be a credible witness and ruled in his favor. Immediately, Paulson must provide all books and records to Ghaffar, who is now a full 44% member and owner of Vanderbilt Residences“, the lawyer proved in written statements.
In contrast, Cedeño Paulson stressed that the judge’s ruling is “just a partial decision,” and he expected the company’s lawyers to file a motion for reconsideration.
“The evidence reflects that although Ghaffar made an investment through one of his several entities, the fact is that the two parties never agreed to the terms of making Puerto Rico Better a member, the latter being an economic stakeholder since the Paulson entities. The transfer was never made or approved “We are confident that truth and justice will prevail in subsequent operations,” said Paulson Puerto Rico’s executive vice president.
As for the second suit, in which Ghaffar sought an injunction from accessing Duo Condado’s books for his alleged role as owner of the entity through the Condado Hotel Owners organization, the judge ruled that even though Ghaffar had purchased the participation rights of the entity in question “subsequent events that may be necessary to deem it An alternate member that has not occurred in accordance with the express provisions of the Duo Condado Operating Agreement.”
Fight for Vanderbilt and La Concha
“especially, There was no clear evidence that the remaining member of the Duo Condado, Paulson PRV, had agreed in writing to accept Condado Hotel Owners (owned by Ghaffar) as a member of the LLC Sued here,” the ruling states.
Andrew Fuentes confirms this The judge found that Ghaffar owned the hotel complex, but Paulson “did not complete the paperwork to prove this.”
“We are confident that our client will be recognized and receive his full membership in due course,” the lawyer said.
However, Cedeño Paulson claimed that in the dispute over the Condado Duo, it was asserted that Jaafar “is not and has never been a member of any of our hotels.”
“Our employees today can take comfort in this victory and be confident that under no circumstances will they have to endure Fahad’s behavior again. The evidence to this effect is clear and conclusive. Thus, It was clearly established in the ruling that Abdel Ghaffar had no influence in any of Polson’s hotels in Puerto Rico. “The judge’s decision allows us to continue our outstanding operations that provide jobs to more than 1,000 Puerto Ricans,” the CEO said.
During an evidentiary hearing in both cases held last month, Paulson’s lawyers deemed it “illogical” that Ghaffar would have any active involvement in the billionaire’s companies on the island.
Ghaffar was fired from Polson Puerto Rico in July 2023, and has since sued his former partner seven times for alleged fraud, among other things.
Paulson also filed a lawsuit against Ghaffar in October 2023 for fraud, embezzlement and unjust enrichment. On appeal, the businessman demanded compensation amounting to $189.6 million.
Then, in February of this year, Paulson’s legal representative amended the lawsuit — filed under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Influenced Organizations Act — to add money laundering allegations.
Later, at the beginning of this month, the American businessman filed another lawsuit against Innoveo, Inc., and the Ghaffar brothers for breach of contract, fraud and unjust enrichment.
Innoveo is a technology company in which Paulson allegedly invested $12.1 million with the understanding that it would be an insurance software company, even though it was intended only to provide information systems services for the entrepreneur’s own companies, according to the lawsuit.
The company, according to the document, would have collected about $3 million “not counting the more than $901,428 that Innoveo intends to collect from several of these companies due to alleged late and unpaid invoices.”.
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