“Father sues son in Grebitus jewelry dispute” |
| Father sues son in Grebitus jewelry dispute Posted: 15 Dec 2010 10:40 PM PST An ugly family dispute has struck the Grebitus jewelry business in Sacramento, with the firm's patriarch suing one of his sons and accusing him of fraud. The lawsuit revolves around ownership of Grebitus & Sons Inc., one of the bedrock family-run institutions of the Sacramento business community. The original Grebitus jewelry store opened in 1926 in a second-floor shop above Ninth and K streets. Edwin A. Grebitus Jr., who retired in 2000, sued his son Robert "Bo" Grebitus last week in Sacramento Superior Court, saying Bo conned him into turning over his ownership share of the business. Bo Grebitus denied the allegations in an interview Wednesday. In the lawsuit, the elder Grebitus says Bo approached him in 2008 about transferring ownership. The son, who was running the company at the time, claimed he needed his father's shares so he could take out a much-needed bank loan to support the business, according to the lawsuit. The whole thing was a sham, the father says. There was no loan and no need to transfer the stock. "I took you at your word," the father said in a September letter to his son, demanding that the stock transfer be canceled. The letter was included in the lawsuit. Bo Grebitus, 54, said his father simply "had a change of mind" after making a stock transfer that had been planned for some time. "For years, we've been working on transferring the business to another generation," he said. He added that he left the company a year ago amid a dispute with his father, and now the elder Grebitus is "expanding the warfare." In the lawsuit, Edwin Grebitus, 84, says he was a victim of "financial abuse of an elder." He says he was "in a mentally weakened state" at the time of the transfer, in part because he was caring for his wife, Beth. She died of complications from Alzheimer's disease in August 2008, a few months after the stock transfer. The lawsuit doesn't assign a monetary value to the stock shares. The Grebitus business consists of two stores – one across from the Capitol, the other on Fair Oaks Boulevard – and as an e-commerce site. Bo Grebitus' brother Ted, who now runs the business, said the lawsuit isn't affecting day-to-day operations. "This is a family dispute, a private family dispute … nothing to do with our ongoing business, and I'd like to leave it at that," Ted Grebitus said. He said he's trying to keep the lawsuit from becoming a distraction during the crucial holiday shopping season. "It's hard enough to get through this recession as it is," he said. "We seem to be doing pretty well." Bo Grebitus added, "We're just trying to keep the family together." © Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.  Call The Bee's Dale Kasler, (916) 321-1066. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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