Eran Salu Lawsuits: Aequum, Centene, Fujifilm, and ERISA Claims

Eran Salu, the founder and sole owner of Sarasota-based private equity firm JAL Equity Corp., is the subject of multiple lawsuits filed between late 2025 and mid-2026. The Eran Salu lawsuits include a secured lender action that placed two of his printing subsidiaries into receivership, a fraud and conversion case by healthcare company Centene alleging he drained millions from postage escrow accounts, a breach of contract suit by Fujifilm, and an ERISA action by a pension fund trust. Two of the entities at the center of the disputes, ColorArt and Las Vegas Color Graphics, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2025.

Who Salu and JAL Equity Are

Salu founded JAL Equity in 2008. The firm spent the next fifteen years assembling a national roll-up of mid-market printing, direct mail, promotional products, and fulfillment companies across North America. By 2023, JAL Equity reported 46 completed acquisitions, revenue above $500 million, roughly 2,000 employees, and 34 locations, and it consolidated many of the holdings under a single brand called Marketing.com.¹

Key entities in the network include ColorArt, LLC, formed in August 2021 to acquire former Cenveo commercial printing plants in Missouri and Texas; its subsidiary Las Vegas Color Graphics; Marketing.com, LLC, of which Salu is listed as sole member; and Growmail, a direct mail company JAL Equity acquired from Vericast in August 2023.¹²

Aequum Capital: The Lender Suit That Started the Cascade

Aequum Capital Financial, the senior secured lender to ColorArt and Las Vegas Color Graphics, filed the first of the recent suits on October 7, 2025, in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri. Aequum alleged it was owed more than $26 million on a revolving credit facility executed in June 2024 that provided up to $30 million in borrowing capacity.³

The complaint alleged that the borrowers, at Salu’s direction, inflated collateral values by overstating accounts receivable by roughly $2 million and reporting approximately $17.8 million in invoices that could not be verified or were fabricated. Aequum also alleged Salu directed the two companies to funnel pledged funds into other businesses he owned, specifically Money Mailer and GrowMail, to avoid repaying the loan. According to the complaint, Salu admitted to directing those transfers during an in-person meeting on September 29, 2025. Aequum further accused the defendants of blocking its consultants from accessing the companies’ facilities and financial records.³

After an evidentiary hearing on October 20, 2025, the court found the prerequisites for receivership satisfied and appointed NMBL Strategies as receiver on October 29, 2025, placing the business assets of both ColorArt and Las Vegas Color Graphics under the receiver’s control.³

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for ColorArt and Las Vegas Color Graphics

Both ColorArt, LLC and Las Vegas Color Graphics, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 5, 2025, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada. The cases were assigned to Judge Natalie M. Cox, with Las Vegas Color Graphics designated the lead case (No. 2:25-bk-16697). The filings reported assets between $1 million and $10 million and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million. The federal filing effectively superseded the Missouri receivership. The general creditor claims deadline passed on March 11, 2026, and the government’s claims deadline was set for May 4, 2026.⁴¹

Centene: Fraud, Conversion, and the Escrow Accounts

In late December 2025, Centene Corporation, the largest unsecured creditor in the ColorArt bankruptcy, sued JAL Equity and Salu personally in the Supreme Court of New York, County of New York. The complaint asserts four causes of action: breach of contract, unjust enrichment, conversion, and fraud.⁵

The dispute centers on prepaid postage escrow accounts. Under a Master Statement of Work between Centene and ColorArt/Marketing.com, Centene funded the accounts by ACH to cover postage for its mailings. The agreement provided that the funds remained Centene’s property at all times, that ColorArt could draw from them only as postage was actually incurred, and that any unused balance was to be returned when the agreement ended.⁶

Centene alleges JAL Equity and Salu exercised complete control over ColorArt and orchestrated a scheme to drain the escrow accounts for other purposes while concealing the activity through monthly postage reports that falsely represented account balances. When Centene requested a refund, according to the complaint, the defendants promised wire transfers that never arrived and eventually conditioned repayment on Centene continuing to place business with them.⁶

The complaint itemizes several categories of loss:

$5,064,268.33 in unrecovered postage deposits.
$4,041,233 owed to Centene as top creditor in the ColorArt bankruptcy.
$522,760.05 in postage, mailers, and print inventory rendered unusable by the collapse.
$360,000 in emergency staffing and backfill costs Centene incurred to maintain regulatory compliance and service continuity after ColorArt stopped performing.

Centene also seeks to pierce the corporate veil, arguing that Salu and JAL Equity treated the printing entities as alter egos, ignored corporate formalities, and undercapitalized them to shield themselves while diverting assets.⁷⁵

On March 13, 2026, JAL Equity and Salu moved to dismiss, arguing that the bankruptcy’s automatic stay bars alter-ego claims and that the complaint lacks sufficient factual allegations under New York law. Centene filed its opposition on March 24, arguing the stay does not shield the defendants from personal liability for their own conduct. The defendants replied on March 30, 2026. As of mid-2026, the court had not ruled on the motion.⁵

Fujifilm: Breach of Contract and Guaranty

On April 30, 2026, Fujifilm North America Corporation sued Marketing.com, LLC and JAL Equity Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Fujifilm alleges Marketing.com defaulted on an installment payment agreement dated January 2, 2026, missing the first payment of $13,348.24 and every payment after that. JAL Equity is named for allegedly breaching a guaranty executed the same day under which the firm unconditionally guaranteed Marketing.com’s obligations.⁸

Fujifilm seeks $381,759.74, made up of $347,054.31 in accelerated unpaid balance and $34,705.43 in late fees, plus interest and attorneys’ fees. Neither defendant answered by the late-May 2026 deadlines, and Fujifilm moved for entry of default on June 5, 2026.⁹⁸

Graphic Communications National Pension Fund: ERISA Claims

On November 19, 2025, the Board of Trustees of the Graphic Communications National Pension Fund filed an ERISA suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (No. 1:25-cv-14164). The complaint names Marketing.com, LLC, Kappa Graphics, LLC, Smith, Edwards, and Dunlap Co., JAL Equity Corp., and Salu personally. It concerns unpaid pension obligations and contributions tied to a collective bargaining agreement. A first amended complaint was filed in April 2026 and answered jointly by all defendants later that month. Fact discovery was set to close June 30, 2026.¹⁰

Earlier Litigation Involving Salu

The current cases are not Salu’s first courtroom experience. In 2015, Salu and his company Direct List LLC sued Vistage International, Inc. and several individuals in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty tied to a peer-advising business relationship. The court dismissed the fiduciary duty claim but let the fraud claim proceed. Vistage was later dismissed, and the case went to trial against two individual defendants, Phil Kessler and Lauren Kessler.¹¹

In August 2018, a federal jury awarded Direct List $2 million, finding the Kesslers liable for misappropriation of trade secrets, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, and violation of the California computer fraud statute, and finding Phil Kessler liable for fraud. Direct List had gone out of business in 2016. The judgment against Lauren Kessler was satisfied in January 2019. Salu’s attorneys appealed, but the Ninth Circuit dismissed the appeal after new counsel failed to enter an appearance.¹²¹³

1
The Target Report. Consolidator Emerges as Legacy Models
2
Drake Star. Drake Star Acts as Exclusive Financial Advisor to Vericast on Its Sale of Growmail to Marketing.com
3
PI World. A Look at the Emergency Receivership Appointment for ColorArt, Las Vegas Color Graphics
4
INFOruptcy. Bankruptcy Case, Las Vegas Color Graphics Inc.
5
PI World. ColorArt Customer Alleges Millions in Postal Funds Disappeared, Eran Salu, JAL Equity
6
Bizj.us Media. Centene Corporation v. JAL Equity Corporation and Eran Salu, Summons and Complaint
7
Print and Promo Marketing. ColorArt Customer Alleges Millions in Postal Funds Disappeared, Files Suit Against JAL Equity, Eran Salu
8
Print and Promo Marketing. Fujifilm Sues JAL Equity, Marketing.com for Breach of Contract
9
PACER Monitor. FUJIFILM North America Corporation v. Marketing.com, LLC et al
10
Docket Alarm. Board of Trustees of the Graphic Communications National Pension Fund et al v. Marketing.com LLC et al
11
CourtListener. Direct List LLC v. Vistage International Inc.
12
San Diego Business Journal. Peer Advising Dispute Leads to Lawsuits
13
CourtListener. Direct List LLC v. Vistage International Inc., Docket Page 2