A Scoreless Tie Jury determines no winners in Agha v. Bitar lawsuits

Grupo Flor’s legal team packs it up after a day of testimony | Royal Calkins

SEE PREVIOUS STORY | Cultivating Controversy

By Royal Calkins

A Monterey County jury ruled Friday that neither Nader Agha nor Mike Bitar should be awarded  damages in their bitter legal entanglement. After deliberating for about a day, it determined both Agha and Bitar acted in bad faith to each other. It found that Bitar committed fraud against Agha, but chose to award no damages to either side.

The decision ended a two-week trial in which Agha, a prominent Monterey Peninsula businessman, accused Bitar, a former business partner of a number of fraudulent activities. Bitar, who founded a cannabis production company called Grupo Flor, countersued. The opposing lawsuits were combined and presented to the jury this month. 

“The jury was bound and determined not to give anybody any money,” said one of Agha’s lawyers, Marc Eisenhart. The jury found that Agha had breached his contract with Bitar and Grupo Flor, and unfairly interfered with their business operations. 

The jury found that both Agha and Grupo Flor had knowingly breached the covenant of good faith. The jury ruled that Bitar had knowingly committed fraud against Agha and that Grupo Flor countenanced and even encouraged the fradulent behavior.

In summary, Agha alleged that Bitar forged his forged his signature on numerous lease documents and deceived Agha about how much many of the marijuana growers in Moss Landing were paying for rent each month. Bitar and Grupo Flor allege that after that celebratory evening in 2016, Agha got greedy and ended his relationship with Grupo Flor without explanation so he could rake in more money from the pot-growing tenants.

The trial was presided by Judge Susan Matcham and featured eight different lawyers.

Have something to say about this story? Send us a letter or leave a comment below.

SUPPORT NONPROFIT JOURNALISM  

Royal Calkins

About Royal Calkins

Contributing writer Royal Calkins has worked for newspapers in Santa Cruz, Monterey and Fresno. He can be reached at calkinsroyal@gmail.com.

8 thoughts on “A Scoreless Tie Jury determines no winners in Agha v. Bitar lawsuits

      1. The article says the Jury “…found that Bitar committed fraud against Agha…”, then further elaborates, “The jury ruled that Bitar had knowingly committed fraud against Agha and that Grupo Flor countenanced and even encouraged the fradulent behavior.”

        What am I missing?

  1. So no comment on Grupo Flor being awarded full breech of contract by Moss Landing/ Nader Agha? I have read your previous article, and am still at a loss as how you refuse to put forth the actual details of this case. Since you were only seen (briefly) whispering into Nader Aghas ear and not once bothered to speak with anyone opposing. I am inclined to believe that this “reporting” was a paid gig.

    1. Ms. Brennen: We sent you the jury’s complete findings, which say, among other things, that both sides had unclean hands, that Mr. Agha breached the Moss Landing leases and that your client Mr. Bitar defrauded Mr. Agha,with Grupo Flor’s knowledge and consent. During the trial, I spoke several times with Jim Cook, Bitar’s lawyer, spoke with Mike Bitar and engaged in a long conversation with Omar Bitar.

  2. This is particularly concerning article as you are portraying yourself as an impartial member of the press and the article is replete with misinformation and factual errors. The issue of forgery by Mr. Bitar was not even posed to the jury due to their being no evidence of it. This is just one plain error. There is no doubt you are aware of this, which leads me to believe that your erroneous misinformation is intentional and should be the subject in and of itself of further litigation.

Leave a Reply to JC Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *