Year Filed: 2004


Plaintiff: Pacific Star Concrete, a tenant at the Moss Landing Commercial Park


Defendants: Agha and his company, HMBY, L.P.


Allegations: Harassment and intimidation. Owner Sean Welch believed Agha was trying to evict him to make way for a more lucrative desalination plant. 


Resolution: Settled out of court, and defendants were ordered not to remove anything from Pacific Star’s property. 





Year Filed: 2004


Plaintiff: Real estate brokerage firm Hecht International 


Defendants: Agha and his company, Andalucia, Ltd.


Allegation: The brokers claimed they were sidestepped and deserved a $265,000 cut on $13 million in Soledad home sales.


Resolution: The court ruled in Agha’s favor, and ordered the plaintiffs to cover his nearly $3,000 in legal fees. 





Year Filed: 2005


Plaintiff: Nader Agha


Defendant: Majed Agha


Allegation: Nader Agha sought a restraining order against his brother, claiming Majed had threatened his life.


Resolution: Majed presented a copy of the handwritten seven-page letter in Arabic he’d sent Nader, criticizing him for disrespecting family and urging him to repent to Allah before he died. The court denied Nader’s motion. 





Year Filed: 2006


Plaintiff: Suzanne Luban and Luban Family Trust


Defendant: Nader Agha and Holman Building Associates


Allegation: Luban bought a P.G. lot for $550,000, and said Agha failed to disclose an affordable housing agreement he’d reached with the city of P.G., resulting in a two-year construction delay.


Resolution: In mediation, Agha agreed to pay $45,000. Luban subsequently sued for delinquent payments, and the parties settled. 





Year Filed: 2007


Plaintiff: Edenbridge Investments


Defendant: Nader Agha and HMBY


Allegation: Breach of contract on a 4.6-acre parcel in Soledad Edenbridge bought for $5.2 million, on which Edenbridge claimed Agha failed to return a $200,000 escrow deposit.


Resolution: Settled out of court. 





Year Filed: 2007


Plaintiff: Nader Agha


Defendant: Oliver Jacobs and Martin Padisak of IES, a technology company headquartered in Osnabrueck, Germany.


Allegation: The parties had a desalination technology agreement for a Moss Landing pilot plant, and each party was to contribute $150,000. Agha alleged IES was delinquent on $75,000 in payments, and had failed to produce the desal units. 


Resolution: A federal judge ruled in Agha’s favor and ordered IES to pay $108,000. 





Year Filed: 2007


Plaintiffs: Moss Landing Commercial Park, Nader Agha


Defendant: Kaiser Aluminum Corporation and National Refractories & Minerals Corporation


Allegation: Nuisance, negligence and breach of contract for cleanup of toxic chemicals and heavy metals left on the industrial park site. Agha sought more than $1 million in damages from the prior owners, who had declared bankruptcy. 


Resolution: A federal district court judge ruled Agha was the prevailing party, but referred the case to bankruptcy court, where a judge determined the defendants were protected by bankruptcy. 





Year Filed: 2008


Plaintiff: Theodore Vinther


Defendant: Nader Agha, Holman Building Associates


Allegation: Fraud. The antique clock collector claimed Agha misrepresented a modern replica as an authentic turn-of-the-century clock, and sold it for $36,000, far more than its value.


Resolution: A jury found Agha defrauded Vinther, “with reckless disregard” for the truth. The parties agreed he could return the clock for a full refund. Agha has moved for Monterey County Superior Court to enter a new judgment that would clarify there were no damages awarded, just an exchange; a hearing is scheduled for January 6. 





Year Filed: 2008


Plaintiff: Nader Agha, as conservator of the estate of Lillian Marie King


Defendant: Extra Space Storage, Inc. in Monterey


Allegation: King had collected gold and silver coins worth millions of dollars, and stored 17 such boxes. Promised security features allegedly didn’t exist, allowing King’s great-niece to take $385,000 in coins and jewelry. 


Resolution: The court ruled in the plaintiff’s favor and ordered defendants to pay $1,440. 





Year Filed: 2010


Plaintiff: Nader Agha


Defendant: County Supervisor Dave Potter


Allegation: Fraud and breach of contract. Agha says he gave a $10,000 campaign contribution to Potter’s campaign in 2004, which he alleged was fraudulently treated as a personal loan and never recorded in public campaign finance records. 


Resolution: Potter maintained it was a loan, and tried to get the case thrown out of court after a California Fair Political Practices Investigation found insufficient evidence to implicate Potter of any wrongdoing. They settled confidentially out of court. 





Year Filed: 2010


Plaintiff: Ropers, Majeski, Kohn & Bentley, a San Francisco-based law firm


Defendant: Nader Agha


Allegation: Breach of contract for $150,000 in unpaid bills. The firm had represented Agha in the Kaiser/Refractories cleanup case. 


Resolution: Monterey County Superior Court ordered Agha to pay $145,000. In subsequent court filings, the firm says payments have been late and didn’t include interest due. 





Year Filed: 2011


Plaintiffs: Nader Agha and HMBY

Defendant:
City of Soledad and Mayor Fred Ledesma

Allegation: Discrimination and breach of contract. Agha's seeking $20 million in damages, plus a return of a $750,000 loan to the city. He alleges he loaned Soledad funds to upgrade sewer and water systems to support a planned 4,200 home-development, but the city backed out of their commitment because of political and racial bias.

Resolution: A hearing is scheduled for April 13.

Sources: Monterey County Superior Court and U.S. District Court of Northern California records. This is not a complete listing.