BONITA SPRINGS, Fla — An attorney representing Bruno Total Home Performance is defending the company against a lawsuit filed by two of its investors.
The investors, who own half of the company are seeking $15,000 in damages against owner Louis Bruno.
His company, Bruno LLC was raided by state agents last month in a criminal investigation. No charges have been filed in that case.
The three count civil case accuses Bruno of "engaging in conduct or transactions that were for the manager's own interest and averse to the interest of the company, and the plaintiffs.”
“It's kind of like a sinking ship, people aren't jumping on board to pay their bills, they're jumping overboard to avoid paying their bills,” said Robert Burandt, who is representing Bruno in the civil suit.
He says his client is low on cash because he still hasn't been paid by creditors like the finance company he deals with.
Burandt says his legal team has been very transparent with the investors throughout this process.
“What we have is an investor, who feels like he is entitled to more information than he's been given, of course we feel he's been given all the information he's entitled to."
Mike Chionopoulos, who represents a Bruno customer in a separate lawsuit, says any litigation in this case may come to a standstill because information that lawyers are looking for is part of the state's criminal investigation into Bruno.
“They're saying this is part of a criminal investigation, this is a serious matter, we have this as evidence and we're not releasing it to anybody until we use it in prosecution, or decide they'll be no charges." Chionopoulus says litigation against Bruno could also be side tracked if the company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
An attorney for the investors declined to do an interview over the phone or on camera.
