In Michigan, an Oakland County Circuit Court judge has ruled in favor of Platinum One Lending, LLC, awarding the company $281,733.18 in trebled damages and dismissing all claims brought by NEXA Mortgage, LLC (d.b.a. NEXA Lending, LLC) in a dispute over the characterization of $350,000 transferred to Platinum One Lending in 2023.
In a 14-page opinion, dated Jan. 23, 2026, Judge Michael Warren found that the funds at issue constituted capital contributions rather than loans and that NEXA’s claims were unsupported by the evidence. The ruling brings the two related lawsuits in Oakland County Business Court to a close.
The court noted that its ruling addresses a discrete dispute involving Platinum One and does not resolve pending litigation between the former NEXA partners in other jurisdictions. The court’s discussion of the parties’ business separation was limited to background relevant to the Platinum One dispute.
Case Background
The case stems from the breakdown of a business relationship between Mike Kortas and Matthew Grella, longtime mortgage industry executives who previously co-founded Arizona-based NEXA Mortgage after leaving Equity Prime Mortgage in 2017.
In 2023, Kortas and Grella were near-equal owners of NEXA and jointly invested in Platinum One Lending, LLC, a Michigan-based mortgage company that operated a flat-fee business model. Funding for Platinum One included two deposits totaling $350,000, made in April and May 2023. At the time, company records and tax filings classified the transfers as capital contributions associated with ownership interests.
In early 2024, Kortas and Grella’s partnership at NEXA deteriorated following a disagreement over the company’s strategic direction. In approximately March 2024, Kortas, who held a slight majority ownership stake, terminated Grella’s employment and disassociated him as a member of NEXA, becoming the company’s sole owner.
After that separation, a dispute emerged over the characterization of the earlier $350,000 transferred to Platinum One. NEXA, now solely owned by Kortas, asserted that the funds constituted loans that Platinum One was required to repay. Platinum One disputed that characterization, maintaining the funds were equity investments made when Kortas and Grella jointly controlled NEXA.
The disagreement escalated into litigation in Oakland County Circuit Court, with Platinum One seeking declaratory relief and damages and NEXA asserting claims premised on the alleged existence of loan obligations. The consolidated cases were tried before Judge Warren in December 2025.
The court noted that its ruling addresses a discrete dispute involving Platinum One and does not resolve other litigation pending between the former NEXA partners. (See NEXA expands legal fight against ex-president Grella.)
Court’s Findings
At the center of the dispute was whether the $350,000 transferred into Platinum One’s bank account in April and May 2023 represented loans from NEXA or equity investments by its then co-owners, Kortas and Grella.
Judge Warren concluded the funds were capital contributions, citing contemporaneous tax filings, Schedule K-1s, and accounting records that classified the transfers as “additional paid-in capital.”
“There was no loan from NEXA to Platinum One,” Warren wrote in his decision. “There was never a discussion or any documentation that the $350,000 were loans until Kortas fabricated this theory after he determined to cut-out Grella from NEXA in 2024.”
Because NEXA’s claims depended on the funds being loans, the court dismissed them in their entirety.
Statutory Conversion
The court also found that Kortas committed statutory conversion when he transferred $93,911.06 from Platinum One’s U.S. Bank account to NEXA on June 13, 2024, without authorization from Platinum One.
At the time of the transfer, NEXA was solely owned and controlled by Kortas. The court found the transfer constituted self-dealing and a breach of fiduciary duty.
Judge Warren exercised his discretion to treble the damages under Michigan’s statutory conversion statute, resulting in a total award of $281,733.18. The court noted that Platinum One may seek attorneys’ fees and costs as a post-judgment matter.
Credibility Determinations
The opinion included detailed credibility findings regarding trial testimony.
The court found that Kortas’s testimony lacked credibility, stating that it was given “absolutely zero weight.” By contrast, the court found Grella’s testimony to be “straightforward, genuine, and authentic,” and afforded it significant weight.
The court reached similar conclusions regarding the testimony of Platinum One manager Amber Dmytro, describing her testimony as credible and supported by contemporaneous documentation.
Additional Relief
In addition to monetary damages, the court:
- Declared that Coffee Capital, LLC was properly disassociated as a member of Platinum One under the company’s operating agreement;
- Ruled that neither Coffee Capital nor Kortas is entitled to indemnification due to their receipt of an improper financial benefit; and
- Dismissed all remaining claims asserted by NEXA Mortgage, LLC against Platinum One Lending, LLC.
Kortas and Coffee Capital were held jointly and severally liable for the damages award. The decision resolves all pending claims in the case.
Kortas was contacted for comment but did not provide a statement addressing the ruling.
