"Does this look like a guy who wasn't involved in aviation?" asked NEXA Mortgage's CEO Mike Kortas Tuesday, sharing a photo of him and his former partner, Mat Grella, standing next to a jet.
The question was posed after a falling out between the co-founders of NEXA, one of the largest mortgage brokers by loan officer headcount. Grella was terminated from the organization and soon after he filed a suit against Kortas accusing him of misappropriating funds to purchase luxury aviation.
Kortas and Grella have a 50.5 percent and 49.5 percent stake in the company, respectively, documents show. Kortas is in charge of growth, while Grella was in charge of operations at the company.
Kortas claims that Grella wanted out of the firm in November because he didn't like the terms of their 2019 operating agreement. On March 26, Kortas announced during a company-wide call that Grella would no longer be a part of the organization, though he was officially terminated days prior. Soon after the termination, on March 19, Grella filed a suit in Maricopa County, Arizona. The former co-owner of NEXA claims Kortas used company funds to purchase unauthorized aircraft related purchases using Nexa funds.
"Grella discovered that despite his clear lack of consent to any more aircraft related expenditures, Kortas has been using Nexa funds to make secret, unauthorized aviation related purchases — including for aircraft and a down payment on a hangar lease — for himself and his own entities," the suit said. "In short, Kortas has been converting Nexa funds to buy millions of dollars worth of planes and hangar space solely for himself and his own benefit, without any corresponding distribution being paid to Grella."
Grella did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NEXA, founded in 2017, has 2,405 sponsored loan officers and is licensed to operate in 48 states, according to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System. It originated close to $6 billion loans in volume last year, Kortas claims.
National Mortgage News interviewed Kortas about how the dissolution of the partnership is impacting the functioning of NEXA and whether he is seeking to replace Grella in the organization. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
