A purported co-owner of Titan Concrete Inc. has petitioned Westchester Supreme Court to dissolve the New Rochelle corporation because his partner is allegedly looting and wasting assets.
Peter J. Mestousis, of Pelham, claims that Michael Saccente Jr. has “looted, wasted or diverted Titan’s assets for non-corporate purposes,” according to the Jan. 13 petition, “by using Titan’s accounts as his own personal piggy bank.”
Titan outside counsel Jason Samuels said in an email that the company does not comment on pending litigation. “Nevertheless, we have been advised that the claims made and relief sought in the lawsuit are baseless.”
Titan supplies concrete for commercial and residential jobs in New York City, the Hudson Valley and western Connecticut, according to its website. It has facilities in Carmel, Putnam County; the Hunts Points section of the Bronx; and Stamford, Connecticut.
Mestousis claims he paid about $6 million to buy a 50% interest in Titan and a related company, leaving Saccente with the other 50%, and that he loaned Titan another $2 million last year, “none of which has been repaid.
Mestousis alleges a variety of misdeeds:
- Saccente failed to deposit money from cash-on-delivery jobs and kept the cash for himself.
- Payroll checks bounced on Dec. 23 and Jan. 3 because of insufficient funds.
- The payroll was covered by a “lopsided” $1 million loan from Canon Advance LLC that netted $900,000 and requires Titan to pay $11,250 a day until $1.35 million is fully paid.
- Some of the money Mestousis loaned Titan last year was used to pay delinquent sales taxes that were incurred before Mestousis bought into the company and thus were Saccente’s personal obligation.
- On Jan. 6 Saccente stopped payments on eight checks to Mestousis totaling $157,855 that were meant to repay him for money advanced to pay vendors in October.
- Saccente makes weekly cash payments to his father and allows his father to use a Titan debit card, even though he is not on the payroll.
- Saccente is diverting rent from several tenants on the Carmel property they co-own.
- Titan pays about $5,000 a week to a close friend of Saccente’s who bills for hours not worked and $1,677 a month on leases for two trucks the friend does not need for work.
- As of Jan. 9, the company had an undeposited funds balance of $6.6 million for customer funds received but not deposited.
Mestousis says he has been “frozen out of the management, administration and control” of Titan, and his access to financial statements and bank accounts has been cut off.
The only way he can get a fair return on his investment, Mestousis argues, is to liquidate the company.
His attorney, Anthony Piscionere, of Rye, is asking the court to dissolve the company, appoint a receiver to sell the assets, order Saccente to account for all monies he has received in operating the business, and direct Saccente and Titan to pay Mestousis what he is due.
On Jan. 17, Supreme Court Justice Gretchen Walsh ordered Saccente and “all persons interested in … Titan Concrete” to explain why Mestousis’s demands should not be approved. A show cause hearing is scheduled for Feb. 10.
