A Hawaii real estate investor and broker are suing Shohei Ohtani, claiming the Los Angeles Dodgers star and his agent sabotaged a $240 million luxury housing development on Hawaii Island’s Hapuna Coast.
According to the lawsuit filed in Hawaii Circuit Court on Friday, Ohtani’s agent Nez Balelo, demanded concessions from developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto before demanding that their business partner, Kingsbarn Realty Capital, drop them from the deal.
Hayes and Matsumoto allegedly spent over 11 years conceiving, investing in, developing, and marketing in the housing project designed to attract luxury property buyers.
The properties average approximately $17.3 million each.
The suit says Ohtani and Balelo were brought into the project’s venture for Ohtani’s promotional and branding value. The pair then allegedly exploited their celebrity leverage to dismantle Hayes’ and Matsumoto’s role for financial self-interest.
Hayes and Matsumoto were allegedly given no warning prior to Kingsbarn terminating their roles in the development, other than a brief phone call.
“This case is about abuse of power,” the lawsuit says. “Defendants used threats and baseless legal claims to force a business partner to betray its contractual obligations and strip Plaintiffs of the very project they conceived and built.”
