A Florida judge this week effectively dismissed a lawsuit brought by private equity firms who charged that Lighthouse Property Insurance executives misled investors about the extent of losses from Hurricane Ida in 2021.
By entering into a 2021 note purchase agreement, the investment firms “had released any claims they might otherwise have had, and are therefore barred from b
ringing Counts I through III of the complaint,” Orange County Circuit Judge Chad Alvaro wrote in his Aug. 31 order on the defendants’ request for summary judgment. “And, without an underlying cause of action supporting Count IV, a constructive trust is unavailable as a matter of law.”
The firms, including Fortinbras Enterprises, founded by Ben Black, sued former Lighthouse CEO
Patrick White, of Orlando, and his father, Lawrence White. The suit charged that the Whites concealed the losses the insurer was hit with after Ida struck Louisiana. At the same time, Lighthouse was seeking to raise capital. Part of the funds w
ere to go to pay off a $19 million loan from a Florida bank, but the Whites did not disclose that Lawrence White may have had an “insider relationship” with the bank, the lawsuit complaint alleged.
Lighthouse, with 13,800 policies in force in Florida and more in Louisiana and other states, was placed into rehabilitation in 2021 by the Louisiana Department of
Insurance. After the hurricane, Lighthouse officials may have believed they could weather the losses, and they continued to try and raise money. But by April 2022, regulators had deemed Lighthouse insolvent and began liquidation proceedings.
See more beautiful photo albums Here >>>
Fortinbras withdrew from the lawsuit earlier in the proceedings, but HT Investments and two Silver Rock funds continued as plaintiffs. The bank, One Florida, in March settled a separate lawsuit brought by the funds, court records show. Th
e investment funds also sued TigerRisk Partners, now known as Howden Tiger Capital, alleging that it misled investors in an effort to raise capital shortly before Lighthouse was put into receivership.
That suit, filed in New York, was partly dismissed in 2025. This spring, both sides agreed to a settlement and the suit was dropped.
Patrick White declined to comment on the Florida court’s order, which came just two weeks before a trial was set to begin. The judge held off on deciding who should pay attorney fees until after a hearing.
Fortinbras and attorneys for the investment funds could not be reached Wednesday on whether the plaintiffs will ask a higher court to review the summary judgment.