Updated at 5:15 pm. with McKee response to creditor suit
Developer Paul McKee said Thursday the latest suit against him by a creditor is frivolous and unrelated to his NorthSide Regeneration project.
McKee said in a statement the suit by Titan Fish Two LLC, of Shawnee, Kan., is the creditor's fourth filed in recent months against him or one of his businesses. The latest suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in St. Louis, "is part of an ongoing effort by Titan Fish and one of its principals, Joseph W. Campbell, to concoct claims against Mr. McKee, where none exist, and to harass and embarrass Paul McKee," the developer's statement said.
Titan Fish previously lost twice to have a receiver appointed for McEagle Properties LLC, when it made unsubstantiated allegations against McKee, the statement added. McKee will contest the latest suit and will "at the appropriate time assert claims for malicious prosecution," the statement said.
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In the suit filed Wednesday, Titan Fish Two alleged fraud in the transfer of McEagle Properties LLC assets to another entity. The suit said McKee and other defendants improperly transferred assets from McEagle Properties when Titan Fish took over the business and its remaining assets in lieu of defaulted debts.
On May 18, McKee’s lawyers announced formation of M Property Services, which acquired the bulk of assets in McEagle Properties. It bought the assets for nearly $750,000 from creditor Triad Bank of Frontenac, which had taken over those assets because of unpaid debts.
M Property Services is affiliated with the McKee family. Its president, Glenn Mitchell, had been a McEagle Properties executive. Mitchell also is a defendant in the new Titan Fish suit.
On the same day Triad sold the assets, Titan Fish Two took over McEagle Properties and its remaining assets. The business was McKee’s real estate company before formation of M Property Services. At the time, no information was available on the estimated value of those assets.
In its latest suit against McKee, Titan Fish Two claimed that assets in the form of property management agreements were fraudulently transferred to M Property Services. Titan Fish Two said McEagle Properties and an affiliated company, McEagle Property Services, “were insolvent or became insolvent†shortly after their assets were transferred to M Property Services.
Because of the alleged fraud, Titan Fish Two said McKee and the rest of the defendants should be liable for the previous unpaid debt. The Kansas City-area firm claimed it is owed more than $4.5 million.
McKee is the driver of NorthSide Regeneration, the effort to redevelop a swath of north St. Louis. Within the development area is property the city plans to acquire as the site for the new headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The lawsuit filed Wednesday doesn’t affect properties in the NorthSide development area.
