wholesale lender Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limitedrecently sued by direct lender Home Mortgage Alliance Corporation (HMAC), targeting the alleged poaching of key personnel and wholesale lending brands, issued a statement this week calling the allegations “baseless,” adding that any employment changes were made “independently and lawfully.”
The case was first reported National Mortgage News. HMAC files lawsuit in California Orange County Superior Court On May 23, it claimed that OCMBC poached a company executive and several key employees while also aiming to leverage HMAC as a brand maintained by the DBA: Jet Mortgage. This is based on a review of court documents house line.
The lawsuit also names the executive at the center of the dispute as Michael Turturro, saying he served as a “senior employee of HMAC” and was division president of the company’s Jet Mortgage division.
dispute
According to court documents, Turturro began working for HMAC in late 2022 as president of the Jet Mortgage division, and his employment agreement contained a provision that restricted him from using confidential company information for his own benefit while or after leaving HMAC.
In late 2022, HMAC alleged that Turturro directed funds to be directed to a marketing agency to use its resources to further develop the Jet Mortgage brand as part of the company’s strategic plan. This resulted in more than $800,000 being paid to marketing agencies to promote the brand among the public.
In January 2023, Turturro’s salary plan with HMAC changed, including taking control of another division. In June last year, he was promoted and “has extremely high authority and influence on the company’s business operations.” [HMAC]”, the complaint states.
But in May 2024, Turturro resigned from HMAC “without prior notice,” and HMAC said it “knows and believes” that he is now employed by OCMBC, the complaint says.
HMAC alleges that “Turturro conspired with OCMBC to effectively steal OCMBC’s entire ‘Jet Mortgage’ division. [HMAC] — including, but not limited to, HMAC’s employees, confidential information, channels, resources and trademarks — through a series of deliberate and premeditated unlawful conduct.
This allegedly includes the misappropriation of confidential employee information in late 2023 or early 2024, while being compensated by HMAC. Ultimately, Turturro and OCMBC allegedly illegally infringed on the Jet Mortgage brand when they launched a brand called JET Advantage Mortgage. The complaint also shows ads allegedly run by the defendants describing JET Advantage as “the same great company” but now with a “new website.”
Turturro’s LinkedIn profile shows he has worked at Jet Mortgage and JET Advantage Mortgage, which are two separate entries in his listed work experience.
OCBC Bank’s response
On Thursday, OCMBC issued a statement in response to the lawsuit.
The statement reads in part: “HMAC’s lawsuit is baseless, lacks legal merit, and is a clear attempt to create fear and distract from the true motivations behind the lawsuit.” “OCMBC categorically denies all allegations. The use of confidential information is categorically untrue,” the statement read. It’s equivalent to propaganda.
OCMBC also said employees “have every right to choose where they work, and their transition to OCMBC is independent and lawful.” The company also said it maintains “robust procedures to ensure that brokers who publicly solicit comments are fully aware of their is working with OCMBC regardless of any trade name submitted” and OCMBC “does not receive any benefit from being associated with OCMBC.” HMAC.
Additionally, the matter “involves only a routine transition of an at-will employee to a new company,” and any DBA operated by the company is “properly filed and marketed in compliance with county law and NMLS requirements.” This lawsuit is a baseless attempt by a less reputable entity to obtain financial gain. OCMBC is committed to vigorously defending itself and maintaining its good reputation in the industry,” the company said.
house line We reached out to representatives from OCMBC and HMAC, but neither immediately responded.
