{"id":139277,"date":"2025-08-12T09:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T09:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/139277\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T09:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T09:09:11","slug":"dodgers-ohtani-agent-accused-of-sabotaging-240m-hawaii-project-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/139277\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers\u2019 Ohtani, agent accused of sabotaging $240M Hawaii project \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Hawaii real estate investor and broker are suing Shohei Ohtani, claiming the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> star and his agent got them fired from a $240 million luxury housing development on the Big Island\u2019s coveted Hapuna Coast that they brought him in to endorse.<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit filed in Hawaii Circuit Court on Friday, Ohtani\u2019s agent, Nez Balelo, increasingly demanded concessions from developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto before demanding that their business partner, Kingsbarn Realty Capital, drop them from the deal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBalelo and Otani, who were brought into the venture solely for Otani\u2019s promotional and branding value, exploited their celebrity leverage to destabilize and ultimately dismantle Plaintiffs\u2019 role in the project \u2014 for no reason other than their own financial self-interest,\u201d the lawsuit claims.<\/p>\n

The suit accuses Ohtani and Balelo of tortious interference and unjust enrichment. Hayes, a developer with 40 years of experience, and Matsumoto, who was to be the listing agent for the houses averaging $17.3 million each, say that Ohtani and Balelo also tried to undermine their interests in a second, neighboring venture.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Balelo’s agency, CAA Baseball, declined comment. Attempts to reach Kingsbarn officials for comment were not immediately successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis case is about abuse of power,\u201d the lawsuit says. \u201cDefendants used threats and baseless legal claims to force a business partner to betray its contractual obligations and strip Plaintiffs of the very project they conceived and built.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefendants must be held accountable for their actions, not shielded by fame or behind-the-scenes agents acting with impunity. Plaintiffs bring this suit to expose Defendants\u2019 misconduct and to ensure that the rules of contract, fair dealing, and accountability apply equally to all \u2014 celebrity or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani, 31, arrived from Japan in 2018 as perhaps the most heralded international star in baseball history, with an ability to both pitch and hit that made him doubly valuable to his team. A five-time All-Star and three-time Most Valuable Player, he signed a record 10-year, $700-million contract with the Dodgers before last season and helped the team win the 2024 World Series.<\/p>\n

Investment materials for The Vista at Mauna Kea Resort, which remained online on Monday night, listed Hayes and Matsumoto as part of the management team, along with Kingsbarn. It called Ohtani \u201cJapan’s Babe Ruth\u201d and the \u201c1st Resident,\u201d giving him top billing ahead of the iconic Mauna Kea Resort, \u201cone of the most celebrated hotels in Hawaii,\u201d Hapuna Beach, \u201crated the #1 beach in America by Conde Nast Traveler\u201d and two golf courses \u2013 one designed by Arnold Palmer, the other by Robert Trent Jones Sr.<\/p>\n

\u201cOhtani will act as the celebrity spokesperson for the project and has committed to purchasing one of the 14 residences within the project,\u201d the brochure says. \u201cHe also intends to spend significant time at The Vista in the off-season and will construct a small hitting and pitching facility for preseason training.”<\/p>\n

The suit says the developers spent 11 years working on the deal and \u201cas part of a bold marketing strategy\u201d signed an endorsement deal in 2023 with Ohtani, \u201cone of the most high-profile endorsements imaginable.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership with Ohtani will elevate the demand and create buzz within the Japanese luxury vacation home market, which is a primary target audience for the project,” the investment brochure said. \u201cWe see Shohei Ohtani\u2019s homeownership as having a significant impact on the global exposure of the project and expect to accelerate the pace of sales, thereby helping us achieve our pricing objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suit said Balelo \u201cquickly became a disruptive force,\u201d threatening to pull Ohtani from the deal if concessions weren’t made.<\/p>\n

\u201cKingsbarn began capitulating to Balelo\u2019s every whim,\u201d the suit said. \u201cOver time, it became increasingly obvious that Kingsbarn was more concerned about preserving its relationship with Otani than honoring its obligations to its business partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, in what the suit called \u201ca coordinated ambush,\u201d Kingsbarn fired Hayes and Matsumoto. <\/p>\n

\u201cKingsbarn openly admitted during the call that Balelo had demanded the terminations and that they were being done solely to placate him,\u201d the suit said. \u201cPlaintiffs stand to lose millions of dollars in compensation tied to projected homebuilding profit, construction management fees, and broker commissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEven if you aren\u2019t a baseball superfan, you\u2019ve probably heard about the alleged gambling scandal tied to Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani. Here\u2019s what you need to know.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Hawaii real estate investor and broker are suing Shohei Ohtani, claiming the Los Angeles Dodgers star and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":139278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,2502,5337,1266],"class_list":{"0":"post-139277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115015015817278607","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}