Michigan’s municipal employees’ pension fund is trying to get out of a Florida courtroom before the real legal fight even begins, telling a judge it had only a bit part in a failed Kona coffee-farm venture that left a major agricultural lender staring at tens of millions in losses.
On Jan. 30, the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan, better known as MERS, filed a motion to dismiss a Polk County lawsuit that pins blame for the collapse of the Kona Hills coffee project on the fund and its investment partners. Lakeland-based AgAmerica Lending LLC sued in December, alleging the development was riddled with environmental, permitting and construction problems. In its Jan. 30 filing, MERS says it was a passive investor that never signed the loan documents, that the Florida court has no jurisdiction over it and that governmental immunity shields the fund from the claims.
The complaint, filed in Polk County Circuit Court on Dec. 1, says AgAmerica advanced roughly $40 million to the Kona Hills venture and is seeking more than $40 million in damages after the loans soured. The suit alleges the defendants hid preexisting environmental, permitting and stormwater issues that undercut both the farm and the financing. As reported by The Ledger, the complaint names MERS alongside several partner companies and executives…