OCMBC countered these claims, stating, “Employees have every right to choose their place of work, and their transitions to OCMBC were made independently and lawfully. Furthermore, OCMBC maintains robust procedures to ensure brokers, who are publicly available for solicitation, are fully aware they are engaging with OCMBC, regardless of any trade names filed.”
The company also questioned the motivations behind the lawsuit, citing a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) suspension order that detailed misconduct by Affiliated Funding Corporation (AFC), whose key individuals are now associated with HMAC.
“All parties involved in the downfall of Affiliated Funding Corporation (AFC) appear to be suspended from future participation with regulated entities such as warehouse banks,” OCMBC said.
“The FHFA suspension order details AFC’s misconduct, leading to a directive for regulated entities to cease any business relationship with AFC indefinitely from July 2017. As of the date of this publication, it appears HMAC currently holds several warehouse lines of credit, with regulated entities. Given the association of key individuals from AFC with HMAC, the motivations behind this lawsuit become even more questionable.”
HMAC’s lawsuit claims that Turturro entered into a confidentiality agreement with the company and was later promoted to a position of “extreme authority and influence” over its business operations. The plaintiff alleged that Turturro resigned in May 2024 without prior notice and currently works for OCMBC.