Mortuary contractor files lawsuit against Maui police over alleged unpaid bills after Lahaina fire

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – HNN Investigates has new developments in a dispute between a morgue contractor and the Maui Police Department.

We have confirmed that the owner of Gray Tech LLC has now filed a lawsuit against MPD. claims the company is more than a quarter of a million dollars in debt For services provided following the Lahaina disaster. This comes after MPD said it had launched an investigation into the contractor.

Gray Tech owner Greyson Abarra is now represented by high-profile attorney Michael Green.

Green has so far chosen to stay away from lawsuits related to the Lahaina fire. But he said he decided to make an exception for this situation.

“This guy actually had a business going and was successful, and they’re trying to put him out of business,” Green said.

When HNN Investigates asked Green why he thought that, he responded: “I believe it was a cover-up and I believe they wanted him gone. Because some things are going to come out and they’re not going to stand there and want people to question them about it.”

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Abarra was contracted for 12 years with the Maui Police Department to provide post-mortem care for those leaving the island.

In the hours after the fire devastated the town of Lahaina, MPD called on its company to take action.

He said the deputy chief, the department’s second-in-command, gave him verbal approval to bring in additional manpower to assist his 14-person team in recovering and transporting human remains.

Now Abarra says the department is refusing to pay for all the work his company asked him to do.

He said MPD told him: “Any volunteers we have, and we had a lot of them: our retired fire personnel, our captains, our hazmat captains, our drivers, step up to help. They are not eligible for reimbursement.”

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Abarra said 32 volunteers donated their time, but the department refused to pay for services they helped his company provide, as well as expenses for things like hotel rooms and meals.

“Everything that needs to be covered federally,” Abarra explained.

He said MPD never changed his contract, despite records showing he repeatedly requested it.

In February, Abarra sent an email to MPD leadership stating: “I need something in writing as services outside of my current contract are still being requested and provided.”

“When someone says we need you to do A, B, C and D as a contract. There’s no written agreement. And the person performs it. Then they ran into a problem,” Green said. “This is basically a breach of contract to me. And he owes almost $280,000.”

In June, the Maui Police Department terminated its contract with Gray Tech LLC, citing a convenience clause, a contract provision that allows a party to terminate a contract without cause or penalty.

Then, in a letter dated Oct. 21, the Maui Police Department denied it owed Abarra any money, saying: “The Maui County Finance Department, on behalf of the Maui Police Department, paid Gray Tech LLC approximately $135,224.03 for work performed under the contract. ” “It’s for fiscal year 2024 and it’s about the 2023 fires, so it’s about moving bodies.”

“The County is confident that Gray Tech has been paid in full,” the letter continued, adding that Abarra has not proven that he is entitled to the additional $150,000 in FEMA-related funding.

To which Green replied: “If they want to dig, we’ve got a shovel as big as they do.”

This wouldn’t be the first time MPD has failed to pay its bills on time. Abarra says he went eight months without compensation for services he provided between July 2023 and February 2024.

In an email, MPD said payment was delayed due to incompatibility issues.

When we asked Abarra about the department’s claim, he denied it, saying the department cut him a check when he complained to the state Ombudsman.

We asked Maui Police Chief John Pelletier to discuss the issue in an on-camera interview. Instead, MPD spokesperson Alana Pico told us: “In June 2024, the Maui Police Department initiated a criminal misconduct investigation (of Abarra’s company) regarding fraudulent billing.”

Abarra said the department has not yet told him his company is under investigation.

Green said: “When I heard about it, I talked to him about it and he actually started laughing. Not because he thought it was funny to be under investigation. But to try to make him into something he wasn’t; to cover up your own misdeeds or wrongdoings.”

Abarra said he approached MPD leadership in the days following the disaster with concerns that protocols for respectful and proper rescue of victims were not being followed. MPD’s recent statements now confirm Abarra’s claims.

Green said he hopes the case will be filed within the next few weeks and that he “plans to name everyone responsible.”

Here is the full statement MPD sent to HNN Investigates regarding the criminal misconduct investigation:

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