Seagrape Investors LLC v. Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, Kit Capital Ltd., Kit Capital (Nevis) LLC, Obra Pia Ltd., Obra Pia (US) Feeder, Obra Pia Management, GP, Ltd., Obra Pia Ltd., Surcusal Colombia, Amanda Blaurock, Rosario Davi, Joseph P. Garland and Kenneth A. Elan

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedSeptember 15, 2025
Docket1:19-cv-09736
StatusUnknown

This text of Seagrape Investors LLC v. Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, Kit Capital Ltd., Kit Capital (Nevis) LLC, Obra Pia Ltd., Obra Pia (US) Feeder, Obra Pia Management, GP, Ltd., Obra Pia Ltd., Surcusal Colombia, Amanda Blaurock, Rosario Davi, Joseph P. Garland and Kenneth A. Elan (Seagrape Investors LLC v. Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, Kit Capital Ltd., Kit Capital (Nevis) LLC, Obra Pia Ltd., Obra Pia (US) Feeder, Obra Pia Management, GP, Ltd., Obra Pia Ltd., Surcusal Colombia, Amanda Blaurock, Rosario Davi, Joseph P. Garland and Kenneth A. Elan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Seagrape Investors LLC v. Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, Kit Capital Ltd., Kit Capital (Nevis) LLC, Obra Pia Ltd., Obra Pia (US) Feeder, Obra Pia Management, GP, Ltd., Obra Pia Ltd., Surcusal Colombia, Amanda Blaurock, Rosario Davi, Joseph P. Garland and Kenneth A. Elan, (S.D.N.Y. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

SEAGRAPE INVESTORS LLC,

Plaintiff,

v. No. 19-cv-9736 (RA) KALEIL ISAZA TUZMAN, KIT CAPITAL LTD., KIT CAPITAL (NEVIS) LLC, OBRA PIA MEMORANDUM LTD., OBRA PIA (US) FEEDER, OBRA PIA OPINION & ORDER MANAGEMENT, GP, LTD., OBRA PIA LTD., SURCUSAL COLOMBIA, AMANDA BLAUROCK, ROSARIO DAVI, JOSEPH P. GARLAND and KENNETH A. ELAN,

Defendants.

RONNIE ABRAMS, United States District Judge: The Court assumes the parties’ familiarity with the facts and lengthy procedural history in this matter, as well as its recent decision in the Related Action also pending before it. See Case No. 21-cv-7517 (S.D.N.Y.) (“Related Action”) Dkt. No. 97. After its investment in a Colombian hotel project failed, Plaintiff Seagrape Investors LLC brought this action against various Defendants affiliated with Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Obra Pia Ltd., a British Virgin Island company controlled by Tuzman that was responsible for developing the hotel. Although the action initially asserted claims for federal securities violations, fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duties, the Court dismissed all but the breach-of-contract claims in September 2020. See Seagrape Invs. LLC v. Tuzman, No. 19-cv-9736, 2020 WL 5751232, at *24 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 25, 2020). Seagrape then filed a first motion for summary judgment that was withdrawn, Dkt. No. 115, and subsequently filed a second motion for summary judgment that was denied without prejudice, Dkt. No. 161. Seagrape renewed its motion for summary judgment, which the Court finally granted in July 2023, finding that Defendants Tuzman, Obra Pia, KIT Capital Ltd. (“KIT Capital Dubai”), KIT Capital (Nevis) LLC (“KIT Capital”), Obra Pia Management, GP (“OP Manager”) and Obra Pia Ltd., Surcusal Colombia (“OP Colombia”) were liable for breach of contract by failing to pay money owed under an agreement called the Credit Security Acknowledgment (“CSA”). See Seagrape Invs. LLC v. Tuzman, No. 19-cv-9736 (RA), 2023 WL 4764022 (S.D.N.Y. July 26,

2023). In so holding, the Court also determined that Seagrape could immediately collect on that debt from all of those Defendants but Obra Pia, under the terms of a separate agreement (the “Subordination Agreement”) the parties had signed. See id. at *4 (holding that the Subordination Agreement subordinated Seagrape’s right to payment from Obra Pia but did not similarly subordinate its right to collect from Tuzman, OP Manager, KIT Capital and OP Colombia). The Clerk then entered judgment on August 30, 2024, Dkt. No. 208, and entered an amended judgment on September 3, 2024 to correct a clerical error, Dkt. No. 209. That same day, Seagrape filed a letter asking for the judgment to be amended again so it stated the total judgment as a single dollar amount, which the Court approved on September 12, 2024. Dkt. No. 213 (second amended judgment).

Two weeks later, on September 27, Defendants filed the instant motion to amend the judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e). See Dkt. No. 214. This motion asserted only one argument, that to date had never been raised: that Seagrape should not be permitted to collect immediately from OP Colombia, since it was merely a “branch” of Obra Pia that had no distinct legal status. See Dkt. No. 214 (“Defs. Rule 59 Mot.”) at 1. Defendants reasoned that because the two entities were one and the same, Seagrape could not be allowed to collect from OP Colombia before it could do so from Obra Pia. Seagrape opposed Defendants’ motion, primarily on the grounds that their argument had been waived. See Dkt. No. 218. After the motion was fully briefed, the Court issued an order in the Related Action, which was filed by Seagrape against Tuzman and many of the same parties, directing Seagrape to clarify whether it was diverse from Tuzman and his various companies. See Related Action Dkt. No. 89. In its response, Seagrape disclosed that it was not diverse from one of the Defendants, OP Feeder,

because “Seagrape itself is a limited partner in OP Feeder” and thus shares its citizenship. Related Action Dkt. No. 90 at 2. This disclosure prompted Seagrape to file a motion to correct the judgment in this action, which sought to drop OP Feeder as a party in order to preserve diversity jurisdiction. See Dkt. No. 226 at 1. The motion further pointed out that several Defendants that had been dismissed at the pleadings stage—Amanda Blaurock, Rosario Davi, Joseph P. Garland and Kenneth Elan—had been mistakenly included in the judgment and requested that the Court remove them. See id. Although Defendants agreed that “these parties should not have been named in the prior judgment,” Dkt. No. 230 at 3 n.3, they opposed Seagrape’s request to drop OP Feeder, arguing that it was an indispensable party that cannot be omitted under Rule 19, id. at 2. For the reasons that follow, the Court grants Seagrape’s motion to drop OP Feeder under

Rule 21, as omitting it from the judgment would not cause enough prejudice to render it “indispensable” under Rule 19. It also denies Defendants’ Rule 59(e) motion to amend the judgment to alter OP Colombia’s payments obligations, on the grounds that Defendants failed to timely raise this issue. Finally, it grants Seagrape’s motion to remove the dismissed individual defendants from the judgment under Rule 60(a). DISCUSSION I. Seagrape’s Motion to Correct Judgment Under Rule 21 The Court begins with the Rule 21 motion, which implicates the Court’s diversity jurisdiction. See Lance v. Coffman, 549 U.S. 437, 439 (2007) (“Federal courts must determine that they have jurisdiction before proceeding to the merits.”). As Seagrape’s own motion concedes, the presence of OP Feeder destroys diversity jurisdiction here. Limited partnerships like OP Feeder take the citizenship of each of their partners. See Carden v. Arkoma Assocs., 494 U.S. 185, 187 (1990). And “because Seagrape itself is a limited partner in OP Feeder,” both

entities are citizens of the same states. Dkt. No. 226 at 1. This action thus cannot proceed with OP Feeder as a party. Seagrape nonetheless proposes to address this issue by dropping OP Feeder as a party under Rule 21, id., which empowers a court to “drop a party” on motion or on its own accord, Fed. R. Civ. P. 21. Although Defendants assert that OP Feeder is “indispensable” and cannot be dropped, the Court disagrees. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21, a court may “drop” a non-diverse defendant from a suit, so long as it is not indispensable to the action under Rule 19. See Newman-Green, Inc. v. Alfonzo-Larrain, 490 U.S. 826, 832 (1989). Determining whether a party is “indispensable” under Rule 19 follows a two-step test. See Viacom Int’l, Inc. v. Kearney, 212 F.3d 721, 724 (2000).

First, the court decides whether the party is “necessary” under Rule 19(a), id., which requires an assessment of whether complete relief can be accorded in its absence and whether proceeding without it would “impair or impede” its ability to protect its interest or create a substantial risk of inconsistent obligations, Fed. R. Civ. P. 19(a). If a party is found to be necessary, the court must then determine whether it is “indispensable” under Rule 19(b). See Viacom Int’l, 212 F.3d at 725.

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Seagrape Investors LLC v. Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, Kit Capital Ltd., Kit Capital (Nevis) LLC, Obra Pia Ltd., Obra Pia (US) Feeder, Obra Pia Management, GP, Ltd., Obra Pia Ltd., Surcusal Colombia, Amanda Blaurock, Rosario Davi, Joseph P. Garland and Kenneth A. Elan, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seagrape-investors-llc-v-kaleil-isaza-tuzman-kit-capital-ltd-kit-nysd-2025.