Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards’ estranged husband, Mauricio Umansky, and his company suffered a small setback in the lawsuit accusing them of stealing “over $3.5 million from American taxpayers,” In Touch can exclusively report.

According to court documents obtained by In Touch, a federal court judge dismissed all claims brought against Mauricio, 54, and his business partner, William Rose, in the lawsuit filed by Relator LLC over payroll protection loans The Agency obtained during the pandemic.

The judge did not grant the request to dismiss claims against Mauricio’s real estate company, The Agency. Mauricio is the founder and CEO and William is the President of The Agency.

The court order noted that Relator had failed to present specific allegations that they had participated in any fraud.

The judge said Relator’s complaint only referenced Mauricio and William “a few times” in the suit and “not in connection with any specific allegation that they themselves falsely certified information in the PPP applications or participated in the fraudulent certification.”

As In Touch first reported, Relator LLC sued Mauricio, William and The Agency over their alleged “greed” when it came to PPP loans. In the lawsuit, Relator claimed The Agency, run by Mauricio and William, took out PPP loans when the company did not need help. A lawyer for Relator LLC wrote, “This is a case about greed during a national health emergency.”

The lawsuit claimed Mauricio’s company was thriving during the pandemic and did not need help from the government in the form of PPP loans.

The company accused the defendants of having “stole over $3.5 million from American taxpayers and improperly used those funds.”

The suit said The Agency had $6 billion in sales volume in 2019 but that rose to $6.5 billion in 2020 and “ballooned to $11.2 billion in 2021.”

Mauricio, his partner and his company denied the allegations. They argued that Relator was making claims, “through the use of guesswork, speculation, and contrived facts.”

“Relator is in no way connected to Defendants: Relator was not previously employed by Defendants nor is it otherwise affiliated with Defendants.

Relator therefore cannot ascertain or know firsthand the facts surrounding The Agency’s application for PPP loans in the shadow of the COVID-19 global pandemic,” a lawyer for the defendants argued in court.

The lawyer said, “Based on publicly available gross sales figures and PPP loan information, Relator makes conclusory statements about The Agency’s financial position that are illogical and unfounded. Relator improperly equates gross sales figures with profits and liquidity, speculates about what percentage of real estate sales The Agency would have received, and—without any information whatsoever — asserts that The Agency falsified payroll numbers.”

Mauricio’s legal team said the lawsuit was full of “speculation and absurd assertions.” In the recent court order, the judge ruled Relator had presented enough at this point for the case to move forward against The Agency.

A rep for The Agency previously told In Touch when the lawsuit was filed, “While we are unable to comment on ongoing litigation, we want to emphasize that The Agency has always operated with the highest level of integrity in all aspects of our business. Like many companies, we faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including layoffs and cutbacks. Our focus has always been, and especially during that challenging period, on delivering exceptional service to our customers and supporting our employees. The claims in this case do not reflect the reality of our operations and financial situation at the time we filed for our PPP loans, and we intend to vigorously defend against these meritless claims.”

The case is ongoing.