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

We have confirmed that the owner of Gray Tech LLC is now suing MPD claims the company owes him more than a quarter of a million dollars for services rendered following the Lahaina disaster. This comes after MPD said it has opened an investigation into the contractor.

Gray Tech owner Greyson Abarra is now represented by renowned attorney Michael Green.

So far, Green has chosen to stay out of the lawsuits involving the Lahaina fire. But he said that for this case he decided to make an exception.

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

When HNN Investigates asked Green why he thinks that, he said, “I think it’s a cover-up and I think he’d like to go. Because things will come out. And they’re not going to want to sit there and have people ask them about it.”

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For 12 years, Abarra was contracted by the Maui Police Department to provide post-mortem care for those departed from the island.

In the hours after the fire ravaged the town of Lahaina, MPD called its company into action.

He says a deputy chief — who is the department’s second-in-command — has given him verbal approval to bring in additional manpower to help his 14-person team with the recovery and transport of human remains.

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

He says MPD told him, “Any volunteers — of which we had a lot: our retired fire personnel, captains, hazardous materials captains, drivers, come to assist. They are not eligible for a refund.”

HNN is investigating

Abarra says that while the 32 volunteers donated their time, the department refuses to pay for the services they helped his company provide — as well as the expenses that were incurred for things like hotel rooms and the food.

“Everything that needed to be covered at the federal level,” Abarra explained.

He says MPD never amended his contract, despite records showing he repeatedly asked them to.

In February, Abarra sent an email to MPD management saying, “I need to have something in writing because services outside of my current contract are still being requested and provided.”

“When someone says you have to do A, B, C and D – like a contract. There is no written agreement. And the person performs. Then they had a problem,” Green said. “To me, this is basically a breach of contract. And they owe him nearly $280,000.”

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

Then, in an Oct. 21 letter, the Maui Police Department denied it owed Abarra any money, saying, “The Maui County Department of Finance, on behalf of the Maui Police Department, paid Gray Tech LLC approximately 135,224, 03 USD for work performed under the contract. for the 2024 fiscal year and related to the 2023 fires, i.e. physical transportation.”

The letter went on to say, “The county is confident that Gray Tech has been paid in full,” adding that Abarra has not established that it is entitled to an additional $150,000 in FEMA funding.

Green told him, “If they want to dig, we have as big a shovel as they do.”

This wouldn’t be the first time MPD hasn’t paid 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 the payment was delayed due to non-compliance issues.

When I asked Abarra about the department’s claim, he denied it, saying that once he filed a complaint with the state ombudsman’s office, the department cut him a check.

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

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

Green said: “When I heard I told him about it and he actually started laughing. Not that he thought it funny to be investigated. But to try to make it something it’s not – to cover up one’s own faults or mistakes.”

In the days following the disaster, Abarra says he went to MPD management with concerns that protocols for respectful and accurate recovery of victims were not followed. Statements made recently by the MPD now confirm Abarra’s claims.

Green says he hopes the lawsuit will be filed within the next two weeks, saying he “plans to name everyone responsible.”

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

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