AG Rokita Sues to Dissolve Noblesville Nonprofit; Hamilton County GOP Chair at Center of Property Sale Dispute

The Indiana Attorney General is in a legal battle with the Chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party.

Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office, which under Indiana law oversees the state’s charitable organizations, has filed suit in Hamilton Superior Court 5 to dissolve Third Phase Inc., a Noblesville homeless shelter and food pantry founded in 1980. The complaint alleges years of mismanagement and a proposed below-market sale of the nonprofit’s real estate to its own attorney — Hamilton County GOP Chairman Mario Massillamany.

The complaint, filed April 24 under cause number 29D05-2604-PL-005119, accuses Third Phase of violating the Indiana Nonprofit Corporations Act and seeks dissolution, appointment of a receiver, and removal of the current board pursuant to Indiana Code §§ 23-17-24-1 and 23-17-24-1.5.

The filing says Third Phase held no formal board meetings between 2021 and 2025, has reported no employees other than Director Sandra Van Den Berg for at least five years, and keeps no formal budget. Van Den Berg’s husband and former board president, Richard Van Den Berg, was removed in 2022 and pleaded guilty in September 2023 to dealing methamphetamine.

The flashpoint, however, is the property.

Third Phase owns roughly 10 acres at 15755 Allisonville Road, next to the Nickel Plate Trail. In late 2025, the nonprofit signed a partial purchase agreement to sell the parcel for $350,000 to MJS Holdings LLC — a single-member entity formed October 17, 2025, with Massillamany as its sole member. Massillamany’s firm had been retained by Third Phase after the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) issued Civil Investigative Demands. Massillamany said in an interview with IndyPolitics that on the property transaction itself, Third Phase was independently represented by Robert Miller of Charitable Allies — a separate firm hired by the nonprofit that, according to Massillamany, commissioned the appraisal and negotiated the purchase agreement.

The $350,000 price was based on a November 2025 appraisal by Shaun Patterson of SJ Patterson Co., which cited deferred maintenance, partial floodplain encumbrance, and the need for demolition. The 2026 Hamilton County tax assessment values the property at $1,236,900. An independent appraisal commissioned by the OAG from American United Appraisal Co. came in at $1,007,000.

Massillamany said the Patterson appraisal reflects the actual condition of the buildings, which he described as containing mold and uninhabitable without significant remediation. “We would have bought it for $350,000 and would have to put in probably another $400,000 to $500,000 to make it livable,” he said, including roughly $100,000 to demolish outbuildings dating to the early 1900s.

Massillamany also disputed the tax assessment. He said Third Phase, as a charitable nonprofit, is exempt from property taxes and has never challenged its assessment, and that the Hamilton County assessor’s office has not physically been on the property since 2018. He further said the OAG’s appraiser never set foot on the property.

“How can you do an appraisal if you don’t even come onto the property?” Massillamany said.

Massillamany said he intended to convert the property into Hamilton County’s first male sober living facility, and that Third Phase’s board viewed that use as consistent with the nonprofit’s mission. He disclosed that he is himself in recovery.

On whether he informed the OAG of the pending sale, Massillamany provided IndyPolitics with screenshots of his call log showing calls to the OAG. He said he and his paralegal spoke with an OAG representative for approximately 10 minutes on April 17, told the office he would not close without OAG approval, and asked whether it wanted a walk-through or its own appraisal. The closing was scheduled for April 30. The OAG filed suit April 24.

“They never responded,” Massillamany said. “We told them we weren’t going to go forward on the sale until they approved it.”

A spokesperson for Rokita previously told The Indiana Lawyer that Massillamany “never told the office he would hold the purchase until it was greenlit,” and accused him of “attempting to cover his tracks.” The spokesperson said the office’s primary aim is to “negotiate an agreed termination of that proposed transaction” rather than pursue separate charges against Massillamany or MJS Holdings.

The complaint flags, in footnote 2, that the OAG asked for conflict-of-interest waivers between Third Phase and its attorney and that none had been produced. Indiana Rule of Professional Conduct 1.8(a) governs business transactions between lawyers and clients. Massillamany said the requirement does not apply because Third Phase was independently represented on the sale by Charitable Allies.

“I don’t need a conflict of waiver form if they have their own separate counsel,” Massillamany said. “I wasn’t their attorney on the sale of the property.”

Massillamany, who is not a named defendant, characterized the suit as politically motivated. He was floated in 2024 as a potential primary challenger to Rokita for attorney general but did not file.

“This is straight up political vendetta,” Massillamany said.

The case is pending before Hamilton Superior Court 5.