Underlying Dispute: Allegations, Assets and a Tragedy
The unpaid fees trace back to a broader and deeply personal conflict.
The original case erupted in early 2025 when Kelly Moore, widow of Winthrop co-founder Drue Moore, accused the company’s chief investment and financial officer, Robert Scott Brooks, along with Drue Moore’s former personal attorney, D. Scott Robinson, of pressuring her husband to surrender millions in assets over allegations of embezzlement.
Kelly Moore alleged that the campaign of threats contributed to her husband’s suicide in January 2025.
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Competing Claims Over Millions
In amended cross- and counterclaims filed last fall, Winthrop painted a sharply different picture. The company alleged Drue Moore transferred just under $8 million from corporate accounts through a network of trusts and holding companies for the benefit of himself and his family.
According to Winthrop, the money was used to purchase luxury watches, cars, thousands of bottles of wine and vacations. The company contends Moore admitted to the misappropriations multiple times, began repaying the funds and promised to assign company interests in various assets before his death.
For much of last year, Kelly Moore battled Brooks, Winthrop and Robinson over the ownership and control of multiple LLCs and trusts connected to her late husband.
In November, the court dismissed Robinson from the case after he argued he lacked sufficient contacts with North Carolina. Brooks sought a similar dismissal, but the judge ruled that his actions on behalf of Winthrop and toward Drue Moore sufficiently tied him to the state. According to a Feb. 12 notice, Brooks has appealed that decision to the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Winthrop has also attempted to push Kelly Moore into arbitration. The Business Court rejected that effort, though court records show the company is again seeking to compel arbitration under its cross- and counterclaims.
