The former finance chief of a central California real estate development company has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging he was subject to “unlawful retaliation and wrongful termination.”
In a June 16 complaint filed in Fresno County Superior Court, Ryan Toncheff said he was fired from Fresno-area developer Granville Homes earlier this month after he raised concerns about the company’s cash flow and disclosures to lenders. The suit, reported by local media outlet Fresnoland, went on to say that the company’s founder and owner, Darius Assemi, used cash from the business for a personal acquisition of property.
Toncheff alleged that Assemi used between $14 million and $16 million in Granville Homes’ operating cash to buy a piece of land that was once owned by his family. The land was originally intended to be a golf course and luxury home development by another developer, but the Assemis later purchased it and renamed it Mission Ranch. The suit said such money “could not have been transmitted without, and in fact was released by, Defendant Darius Assemi’s personal approval.”
Granville Homes didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday, but Assemi told Fresnoland that the suit was “filed by a disgruntled former employee of Granville Homes whose work performance did not justify his continued employment.”
“Granville looks forward to continue building homes in the Central Valley for decades to come,” Assemi told the outlet.
According to reporting by Fresnoland, President Donald Trump, a real estate developer, had expressed interest in the same piece of land almost two decades ago but walked away.
Toncheff’s suit names Granville Homes, Assemi, and 50 unidentified “Doe” individuals as defendants. Toncheff accuses the company and Assemi of engaging in promissory fraud and unfair business practices. He’s seeking “compensatory damages for lost wages and benefits,” as well as “general damages for emotional distress, mental anguish, and harm to professional reputation and career, in amounts to be proven at trial.”
Instead of addressing or investigating Toncheff’s concerns, the suit said, defendants retaliated by “stripping (him) of his duties and authority, subjecting him to humiliation, revoking his systems access, and suspending him without explanation, and ultimately terminating his employment effective June 10, 2026.”
Based on his calculations, Toncheff had determined that Granville Homes was “cash-flow insolvent,” the suit said. Toncheff’s analysis showed the company’s “burdened debt-service coverage ratio reflecting not merely (its) own-name obligations but the full aggregate debt service that functionally bore through its centralized cash management structure,” the suit added.
Toncheff began working at Granville Homes in mid-2024, according to the suit.
Toncheff’s allegations come amid ongoing financial and legal troubles for the Assemi family, which was alleged to have defaulted on over $700 million in loans, Fresnoland previously reported.
