Pugni brother accuses brothers of looting Valhalla construction business

A shareholder in two family construction companies in Valhalla is suing his brothers to liquidate the businesses.

John Pugni accused Mark, Gregory and Gary Pugni of diverting profits from Bradhurst Site Construction Corp. and Bradhurst Equipment Corp., in an Oct. 8 complaint filed in Westchester Supreme Court.

They have “failed to serve as guardians of the corporate welfare,” the complaint states, “by diverting corporate earnings, looting corporate assets and siphoning funds for personal use.”

“At this time,” Bradhurst Site Construction president Mark Pugni said in an email, “we have no comment.”

Bradhurst Site Construction clears and excavates construction sites and installs utilities, according to the complaint. Bradhurst Equipment is a holding company for the construction equipment.

The companies were founded by Joseph Pugni. By 2013, the four brothers each controlled 25% of the businesses, and two brothers and a sister no longer held shares.

Joseph Pugni died in 2016.

John traces the kindred conflict to 2018 and the handling of his father’s estate by his sister, Christine, who is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

John says he objected to his sister working for the company, but Mark insisted that she continue to be employed.

Then, according to the complaint, John demanded that his brothers buy him out.

He claims he stopped working for about six months in 2018, after the completion of a construction project, and then Mark banned him from returning to work in 2019.

John says he repeatedly demanded a shareholder meeting to discuss his buyout and work status, but a meeting was never held and a buyout was never offered.

He is treasurer of both businesses, the complaint states, but has been denied access to the financial records.

John accuses his brothers of engaging in transactions that have no legitimate business purposes. For example, Mark allegedly loaned himself $55,000 in corporate funds to buy a personal vehicle; transferred $1.3 million to an investment account in a company that employs his wife to promote her career; used $25,000 to $30,000 a year in corporate funds for a personal membership to Knollwood Country Club; and uses corporate credit cards for personal dining and entertainment expenses.

Bradhurst Site Construction earned more than $5 million in income in 2019, the complaint states, and John’s brothers each received almost $300,000, including bonuses of $160,000 to $180,000 to deflate profits and “prevent John from receiving any share of the profits.”

Since 2018, John claims, his brothers have refused to give him tax returns or the K-1 partnership forms.

John claims that his brothers have wasted corporate assets, converted funds and breached their fiduciary duties. He is asking the court to compel them to buy out his interest, appoint a receiver to preserve assets, order an accounting of the companies and dissolve and liquidate the corporations.

He is represented by Hawthorne attorney Mark A. Rubeo Jr.