The Alfred E. Mann Living Trust filed a complaint against Etirc Aviation and Etirc chairman and CEO Roel Pieper in March, seeking more than $10 million plus interest and expenses.
The complaint states that Etirc and the Mann Living Trust agreed last November “to each provide $10 million in funding to…Eclipse Aviation” following Eclipse’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The $20 million was intended as debtor-in-possession financing to keep Eclipse operating until the company was sold to Etirc affiliate EclipseJet Aviation International, but that sale never happened. The Mann complaint says there was an agreement that “if Plaintiff provided Etirc’s $10 million share of the funding…Etirc would be obligated to pay Plaintiff back pursuant to the terms of a $10 million promissory note.” The Mann Trust provided the entire $20 million but, while Etirc “executed a promissory note,” it defaulted on the $10 million payment due February 28, according to the lawsuit.