Borsellino
GALVESTON - Alleging his business partners failed to uphold an agreement stemming from the sale of his risk management company, local resident Steven Turner has filed a lawsuit.
In a lawsuit filed Feb. 24 in Galveston County District Court, Turner claims Washington, D.C., resident Gerald Young and Webster-based Hopewell Risk Strategies LLC violated an acquisition agreement dating back to September 2009.
Turner, who has 13 years of experience in medical bill review and cost containment, was hired by Moody Review Inc. in 2005, the suit states.
He purchased the company the next year, and three years later, was in negotiations to sell the business to Young.
Turner, Young and Bob Clemente, who is not a party in the case, then formed Hopewell Risk Strategies, a holding company, to purchase Moody Review.
The transaction was complete with the parties consenting "that the purchase price for the assets, which were specifically delineated in a schedule attached to the acquisition agreement, would be based on a formula of gross revenues over the (12) months following the acquisition."
According to the suit, the purchase price was later determined to be $1,716,296 of which Hopewell was to pay Turner back in quarterly installments of $79,564.
Turner claims "it became apparent that (Gerald) Young was not willing or able to run the company, and that he had no intention of paying the full amount," adding he began to suffer financial distress.
Last February, the plaintiff agreed to extend the terms of the note from four years to eight years as well as reducing the quarterly payments by nearly half. Turner claims Hopewell "has not even paid these reduced amounts in a timely fashion" because of Young's alleged mismanagement, the original petition says.
The complaint further asserts that Young threatened to sue Turner on "wholly meritless allegations" in an attempt to get the plaintiff to forgive Hopewell's supposed debt.
Turner additionally says Young claimed to be on the verge of a deal to sell Hopewell, but the defendant would not reveal the identity of the alleged buyer.
Attorney Josh Borsellino of Arlington is representing the complainant, and Galveston County 405th District Court Judge Wayne Mallia is presiding over the case.
Case No. 12-cv-304