Case Background
A San Bernardino County jury sided with Plaintiff Youngdough Lee in a civil dispute over a failed home design project, finding that Defendant Ehab Iskander Mina, doing business as Alpha Omega Engineering, received money intended for her benefit but failed to return it.
The case began in 2017 when Lee, a Riverside resident, hired Alpha Omega Engineering a California corporation based in Chino Hills to prepare updated, code-compliant construction plans for a property she owned at 16135 Greens Court, Chino Hills, California. Mina served as the principal and founder of Alpha Omega Engineering.
Cause of Action
Lee brought two claims against the Defendants: money had and received, and money paid. Both claims stemmed from the same underlying failure — Lee paid for engineering and design services that the Defendants never completed, leaving her without the building permits or approved plans she contracted for.
Injury
After paying over $12,500 to Mina and Alpha Omega, Lee received no usable deliverable. The City of Chino Hills rejected the application because it was incomplete. By March 2020, the city confirmed there had been no follow-up submissions or corrections since the initial application in 2019. With the project stalled for nearly three years, Lee had to hire an entirely new team of architects and engineers to restart the work, at significantly higher market rates due to inflation.
Damages Sought
Lee sought no less than $23,028 in damages under each cause of action, plus 10% annual interest as provided in the written agreement. She also claimed $10,465 in attorney's fees, costs, and expenses, which she argued the contract allowed the prevailing party to recover.
Key Arguments and Proceedings
Legal Representation
Plaintiff: Youngdough Lee
· Counsel for Plaintiff: Aaron F. Garcia
Defendant: Ehab Iskander Mina | Alpha Omega Engineering, a California Corporation
· Counsel for Defendant: Kevin Abbott | Chandra Winter
Key Arguments by Counsel
On the Plaintiff's side, Garcia argued that Lee paid the full first installment of the contract $9,600 and later made additional payments totaling over $12,500, relying on Mina's representations that the plans would be finalized. Despite receiving these payments, Mina failed to submit corrections to the city, failed to secure HOA approval in time, and allowed the application to go inactive until the city threatened to deem it withdrawn. Garcia maintained that Lee did everything asked of her, including obtaining HOA approval confirmation in March 2019, and that Mina simply did not follow through.
On the defense side, Abbott and Winter raised seventeen affirmative defenses, covering a wide range of legal grounds. They argued that Lee's complaint failed to state a proper cause of action and that various statutes of limitations barred or reduced her claims. They also alleged that Lee herself failed to perform conditions required under the contract, and that any damages she suffered were caused by third parties outside of Mina's control. The defense also pointed to an arbitration clause in the original contract, reserving the right to compel arbitration.
Claims
Money Had and Received
Lee's first claim centered on money that the Defendants accepted for her benefit but never actually applied to the project's completion. Between July 2017 and June 2019, Lee paid the following amounts to Alpha Omega: $3,600 on July 31, 2017; $6,000 on August 4, 2017; $1,300 on June 21, 2019; and $5,000 on June 26, 2019. She also paid $6,263 directly to the City of Chino Hills as a required fee for the application. Under the terms of the contract, the Defendants agreed to draw up new, code-compliant plans for the property — covering architectural, structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and grading work — for a total fee of $24,000, paid in three installments.
After Lee made her initial payment, the Defendants submitted plans that the city found incomplete in July 2019, noting more than two dozen corrections and deficiencies. Mina never resubmitted corrected plans. By March 2020, the city formally warned that the application would be considered withdrawn unless activity resumed by May 2020. It never did.
Money Paid
Lee's second claim mirrored the first, alleging that she paid money directly at the Defendants' request and that those payments were never returned despite the Defendants' failure to fulfill the contract. Lee argued she was left with a stalled project and was forced to start over, hiring Adkan Engineers for civil and land survey work at $23,720, and TR Design Group for full architectural and engineering services at $54,500 costs that far exceeded the original contract price.
Defense
Mina denied all allegations through a general denial filed March 12, 2021. The defense argued that the contract contained an arbitration clause, that Lee had failed to fulfill her own contractual obligations, and that if any loss occurred, it was caused by third parties and not by Mina's conduct. The defense also raised the doctrines of waiver, laches, estoppel, unclean hands, accord and satisfaction, and novation. Additionally, Mina claimed a right of setoff, asserting that Lee's own acts and omissions had caused him damages.
Jury Verdict
The jury reached its verdict on April 27, 2026, in Department S36 of the San Bernardino Justice Center. The special verdict form walked the jury through a series of questions, each building on the last.
On the first question whether Ehab Mina, doing business as Alpha Omega, received money that was intended for the benefit of Youngdough Lee the jury answered yes.
On the second question whether that money was actually used for Lee's benefit the jury again answered yes.
That second answer proved decisive. The verdict form clearly instructed the jury that if they found the money was indeed used for Lee's benefit, they were to stop deliberating, answer no further questions, and have the presiding juror sign the form.
In plain terms, the jury found that Alpha Omega used the money for Lee's benefit the very opposite of what Lee argued throughout the case. Since her entire claim rested on the premise that the money was never applied toward her project, this finding effectively gutted her case before damages were ever considered.
The verdict landed in favor of Defendant Ehab Mina. Lee walked away with no damages award. The presiding juror, Denis Davin, signed and dated the form on April 27, 2026, bringing the matter to a close more than five years after Lee first filed her complaint in November 2020.
Court documents are available upon request at [email protected]
