The legal battle between NEXA co-founders persists this week as former president and co-founder Mat Grella filed a motion on June 24 to dismiss the lawsuit initiated by co-founder and CEO Mike Kortas in the superior court in Maricopa, Arizona.
In Grella’s Motion To Dismiss, he alleges that the lawsuit is the “handiwork” of Kortas, and argues that the claims brought against him are “defective” and should be dismissed.
“NEXA complains that Grella somehow defrauded the $24 million hangar sellers — but one cannot bring a fraud claim based on someone else allegedly being fooled,” the Motion to Dismiss reads. “NEXA claims that Grella breached his fiduciary duty to the company — but as a member of a manager-managed company at the time of the alleged misconduct, he had no such duty.”
In an emailed statement to NMP, Grella said, “We filed our motion to dismiss NEXA’s complaint, which we believe is the handiwork of Mr. Kortas, on Monday because it simply doesn’t stand up to legal scrutiny. I have always acted in NEXA’s best interests with the utmost integrity. I look forward to showing this in a court of law through my own lawsuit against Mr. Kortas.”
However, Kortas responded to Grella’s statement in a statement sent to NMP: “If Mat [Grella] would just follow the operating agreement he agreed to, this would all be over this week. He is the one that asked to be out and the operating agreement outlines how that works.”
The conflict between the former business partners, who left Equity Prime Mortgage (EPM) and founded NEXA in 2017, began in March 2024 when Grella was terminated from NEXA amid buyout negotiations. Grella then filed a lawsuit that accused Kortas of making aircraft-related purchases with company funds without his consent, which Kortas denies. Kortas then followed up with a countersuit against Grella and his wife, alleging that he traded in or sold several company cars, retaining the proceeds, which Grella denies.
In response to Grella’s Motion To Dismiss, Kortas told NMP that although he’s not an attorney and hasn’t had time to examine the filing in any detail, “it’s my understanding that the motion may be more for public consumption than a serious legal filing,” he said.
Regardless, Kortas told NMP that NEXA’s attorneys will be filing a response by July 15 and they remain confident that the court will deny Grella’s Motion.
“Although we continue to keep our focus on the many great initiatives that are helping to grow NEXA Mortgage, to care for and advance the interests of loan officers and employees, and ensure the consumers receive the best service possible, it is upsetting to see anyone attempt to distract our focus in order to advance their own financial interests,” Kortas wrote to NMP.
Kortas also told NMP that NEXA Mortgage is bigger than any one person and legal issues will be addressed in the courtroom where they belong, and added his claim that “The court will deny Grella’s latest motion that is doomed to fail.”
