An investor and real estate broker from Hawaii pursues Shohei Ohtani, saying that the superstar of the Los Angeles Dodgers and his agent has drawn them from the development of luxury housing of 240 million dollars on the coveted coast of Hapuna of the Big Island in which they brought it.
According to the trial brought by Hawaii Court Court, Ohtani’s agent, Balelo Nose, has increasingly requested concessions from the developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and the real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto before asking their trading partner, Kingsbarn Realty Capital, will drop them off.
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“Balelo and Otani, who were brought to the company only for the promotional and brand of Otani, have exploited their lever effect of celebrities to destabilize and finally dismantle the role of the complainants in the project – without reason other than their own financial interest,” said the trial.
The costume accuses Ohtani and Balelo of tort interference and unfair enrichment. Hayes, a developer with 40 years of experience, and Matsumoto, who was to be the inscribing agent of the houses on average of $ 17.3 million each, say that Ohtani and Balelo have also tried to undermine their interests in a second neighboring business.
A spokesperson for the Balelo agency, CAA Baseball, refused to comment. Attempts to join Kingsbarn officials to comment were not immediately successful.
“This case concerns abuses of power,” explains the trial. “The defendants used baseless threats and legal allegations to force a trading partner to betray his contractual obligations and to strip the complainants of the very project that they have designed and built.
“Defenders must be held responsible for their actions, and not protected by renowned or behind the scenes acting with impunity. The applicants are involved in this action to expose the unconducting of defendants and to ensure that the rules of contract, fair negotiation and responsibility also apply to everyone – celebrities or not. ”
Ohtani, 31, arrived from Japan in 2018 as perhaps the most announced international star in the history of baseball, with the ability to launch and strike that made him doubly precious for his team. All-Star five times and triple most useful player, it Signed a record contract of $ 700 million over 10 years and $ 700 million With the Dodgers before last season and helped the team win the World Series 2024.
Investment equipment for the Vista at Mauna Kea Resort, which remained online on Monday evening, listed Hayes and Matsumoto as part of the management team, with Kingsbarn. He called Ohtani “Japan’s Babe Ruth” and the “1st resident”, giving him the best invoicing in front of the emblematic Mauna Kea Resort, “One of Hawaii’s most famous hotels”, Hapuna Beach, “Rated the N ° 1 Beach in America by Conde Nast Traveler” and two golf terrains – one conceived by Arnold Palmer, The other by Robert Trent Jones Sr.
“Ohtani will act as a celebrity spokesperson for the project and is committed to buying one of the 14 residences in the project,” explains the brochure. “He also intends to spend a lot of time at the Vista during the dead and will build a small hitting and pitching installation for pre-season training.”
Ohtani presented the project as its next “Home Winter” in April, The affiliate of CBS Honolulu KGMB-TV reported at the time
The trial indicates that the developers spent 11 years working on the agreement and “as part of a daring marketing strategy” signed an approval agreement in 2023 with Ohtani, “one of the most imagined approvals”.
“This partnership with Ohtani will increase demand and create buzz on the Japanese luxury holiday home market, which is a main target audience for the project,” said the investment brochure. “We consider the property of Shohei Ohtani as having a significant impact on the world project exhibition and expects to accelerate the pace of sales, thus helping us to achieve our price objectives.”
The prosecution said that Balelo “quickly became a disturbing force”, threatening to withdraw Ohtani from the agreement if the concessions were not made.
“Kingsbarn began to capitulate all the whims of Balelo,” said the costume. “Over time, he has become more and more obvious that Kingsbarn was more concerned with preserving his relationship with Otani than honoring his obligations to his business partners.”
Last month, in what the costume called “a coordinated ambush”, Kingsbarn shot Hayes and Matsumoto.
“Kingsbarn openly admitted during the appeal that Balelo demanded the layoffs and that they were made only to appease it,” said the trial. “The complainants should lose millions of dollars in compensation linked to the profit projected for the construction of houses, the construction costs of construction and the broker’s commissions.”