SC governor hopeful accused of diverting $2M from business partner in lawsuit
State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who last month kicked off a bid for governor, is being accused of funneling $2 million away from a business partner.
A lawsuit, filed by Frank Rogers in Greenville County accuses Kimbrell, his wife, Liliya, and banker Thomas Blake Whitaker of using a series of transactions that included setting up a new corporation to funnel company proceeds away from Rogers over a two-and-a-half year period. starting in October 2022.
Kimbrell’s campaign dismissed the lawsuit as politically motivated and was filed by a “disgruntled business partner.” The issues have taking been place between Rogers and Kimbrell for years, the campaign said.
The lawsuit was filed about two weeks after Kimbrell, of Spartanburg County, kicked off his campaign for governor.
Rogers and Kimbrell each own half of Exodus Aircraft, a private aviation company with an LLC incorporated in Delaware. The company uses a 30-seat airplane to provide chartered flights to private individuals and companies.
However, Rogers accused Kimbrell of never executing an operating agreement and said Kimbrell used the money to fund political aspirations and pay for personal expenses over a period of two-and-a-half years.
Rogers, of Greenville, said he continued to provide financial support as Exodus Aircraft provided chartered aircraft services to customers, the suit said. However, money paid by customers would go into the other bank accounts set up by Kimbrell, who is the managing member of the business, according to an affidavit.
“Kimbrell further concealed his diversion of Exodus’s corporate funds by concocting a story blaming Rogers for Exodus’s operating problems, which was a total fabrication,” the lawsuit said.
In April 2024, Kimbrell formed another LLC in South Carolina, Exodus Airways, without Rogers knowing and secretly opened additional bank accounts, the lawsuit alleges.
“Kimbrell chose the name Exodus Airways to prompt customers and third parties into mistakenly concluding Exodus Airways and Exodus Aircraft were the same entity so as to avoid detection of his fraudulent scheme,” the lawsuit said.
Kimbrell’s team said the lawsuit is absurd and “doesn’t have legs to stand on.”
“We’re witnessing a regrettable, uncorroborated case of lawfare from a disgruntled, absent business partner with no function or daily involvement in our operations,” Kimbrell said in a statement. “I’m confident that the facts will come to light, leading to full vindication.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2025 at 3:45 PM.
