These facts as far as I know have not been disputed by any parties and there is supporting evidence that is in the hands of the Solicitor's office and attorney Sam Bauer.
I originally wrote this and sent it to the AG of SC, Henry McMaster. He never answered it and I eventually had a meeting with an attorney representing me and the deputy AG as well as myself present. Mr. McMaster refused to attened. Nothing was accomplished.in fact I never even got a response from the AG's office after our meeting. I have pending civil litigation whereas Mr. Sims has violated all civil court rules and I expect a default judgment within weeks. Although it will be useless since Mr. Sims already agreed to a $200,000 judgment with the landlord, Mr Stevers that will supercede any judgment I receive as Mr. Stevers and Sims are still somewhat friends so Mr. Sims showed preferential treatment to him when he realized I was getting close to trial.
Beginning in the fall of 2001 Richard Sims and I negotiated a deal whereas I would become a 25% owner in a new corporation that Mr. Sims was setting up, Island Cabaret Inc, a South Carolina corporation, incorporated 12/17. I would arrange financing thru investors at negotiated rates for the amount of $100,000 to Island Cabaret Corp. And give Mr. Sims $25,000 for the 25% stake when the construction project was finished and the business opened. The 25% ownership stock for me was to be titled in the name of a P.A. C, a Delaware corporation which I control.
I was also responsible for design and construction oversight which was carried out with plenty of professionals and contractors as witnesses. The $100,000 loan was to be secured by a security agreement and promissory note which were negotiated and then drawn up my Maria Balbas Parker, attorney for the corporation. Ms. Parker now has power of attorney over the corporation since Mr. Sims has effectively disappeared".
Prior to getting the paperwork finalized with me, Mr. Sims and the landlord, Jay Stever, asked for money up front to hold the lease on the property (rent for January), in the amount of $11,000. Property Acquisition Corp. Paid this. Mr. Sims also said he needed several thousand dollars to pay various other license and application fees for the corporation. P.A.C. Also fronted this money, approx. $4500. On or about January 25th, Mr. Sims requested the first draw of the $100,000 loan. Bills were coming due for the design and construction of the club. $25,000 was wired via the Fed Funds system on January 25, to an account maintained by Island Cabaret and controlled by Richard Sims and Josh Jordan, the supposed other 10% partner (Sims 65% P.A.C. 25% Jordan 10%, according to a never filed corp form drawn up by Ms. Parker) Most of the money was used on club construction but Mr. Sims also diverted some to himself and at least one other individual, Frank (last name unknown) in Dallas Texas.
Beginning February we had negotiated a deal to buy furniture from a Houston manufacturer, Ken Bowman. Mr. Sims had suggested I go there to check the quality and finalize the order. The deposit would be at least $10,000 so Mr. Sims asked for a second draw on the $100,000 loan. He also signed a check from the account of Island Cabaret to send me to Houston with. Since the papers were not finalized for the loan I was reluctant to wire a second draw to Mr. Sims. I then called Maria Parker on or about February 4rd and asked her what the holdup with the paperwork was. Ms. Parker had informed me that it was all finalized and Mr. Sims had copies for me. I then instructed the second wire transfer of $30,000 to the account of Island Cabaret Inc on Feb 4th. I also had an additional $40,000 wired to P.A.C. To have the remaining funds close at hand since the wire transfers were taking several days to arrive. On Feb 5th I flew to Houston to meet with Mr. Ken Bowman. We finalized a ~$21,000 order and I left him with the deposit check for ~$11,000. I flew back to Hilton Head on Feb 6th. On Feb 7th the second wire transfer was credited to the account Mr. Sims controlled for the corporation. Within hours of receiving notice that the funds were credited to his account, Mr. Sims changed the locks on the club and forcibly had me removed by his bouncers. Then Mr. Sims laughed and said he never signed any of the contracts which he had delivered to my assistant, Dane Olsen and that I would never get a single dollar back or any ownership in of the club and that I was basically scammed. These unsigned documents would include the forms transferring ownership, the security agreements for the loan collateral, and promissory notes for the loan of which Mr. Sims had already taken $55,000. Mr. Sims stopped payment on the check to Ken Bowman and used the money for whatever he saw fit (personal lawyer bills to fight me by my best estimation). Mr. Sims then had Tracey Richland, his then personal asst, call Mr. Bowman and tell him I stole the check and that is why they stopped payment on it. Apparently Miss Richland had forgotten she called Mr. Bowman prior to my arrival to tell him I would be coming and that I had the deposit check signed by Mr. Sims with me. Mr. Bowman contacted me to make me aware of the situation.
When I reported the fraud to the Beaufort County Sheriff's office, the Officer that responded refused to take a report claiming it wasn't criminal and I should contact an attorney for a civil claim. I maintained it was criminal fraud but no report was taken. Within a week of changing the locks Mr. Sims tried to extort $117,000 from me by letting me know if I didn't give it to him, the deal was off and I would lose the money already invested since I didn't have signed agreements and basically nothing but an oral agreement nd unsigned documents prepared by corp attorney to stand on. I took the case to attorney Sam Bauer as he is a criminal defense attorney and a personal friend. Mr. Bauer believed it was a criminal case as well. Mr. Bauer got the attention of Randolph Murdaugh, judicial circuit solicitor, and brought him my case. (approx early April). After looking at the evidence and listening to Mr. Bauer, Mr. Murdaugh agreed it was a criminal fraud and had called a judge in Hilton Head to swear out a warrant for breach of trust with intent to defraud. A slight problem arose when I went to swear out the warrant, there was no case number because the deputy had never taken the complaint. So I was instructed to meet with Sgt Bobby Tuton. I contacted Mr. Tuton but he did not show up for our appointment. He did however call and give me a case number to give to Judge Coffey for the warrant. The warrant was issued and Mr. Sims was arrested a few days later. I was notified of his bail hearing of which I attended and that was the last communication I had from the solicitors office. He was held on $75,000 bail. Thru my own research I eventually found out the case was brought to the grand jury and an indictment was handed down. I made several attempts to contact the court to find out who would be handling the case but I never got an answer. I even met with Duffy Stone, asst. Solicitor, and gave him a detailed accounting of the fraud along with supporting evidence. (Mr. Bauer had considered co-counseling the civil case with Mr. Stone thus the interview). Still no one from the solicitor's office or the court ever contacted me again. Then in June (not quite sure on exact date) I find out that all charges against Mr. Sims were dropped by the asst. Solicitor, Angela McCall Tanner. (Angela McCall Tanner uses the same phone number as Duffy Stone and works from the same office.) I also found out at the time that not a single bit of investigating was done by the sheriff's office into the crime. The asst. Solicitor that signed the nolo prosse form (exhibit 1), was Angie McCall Tanner, wife of the Beaufort County Sheriff, PJ Tanner. Mrs. Tanner stated on the nolo prosse form that the victim refused to cooperate. Mrs. Tanner never once tried to contact myself or Sam Bauer. I certainly left plenty of messages with various court offices trying to give my assistance in any way I could.in fact to this day I have never spoken to Angela McCall Tanner as she has never returned a single phone call either before or after dropping the charges as to which I was the victim. Mr. Bauer is also in the courthouse regularly as he is a defense attorney and sees Ms. Tanner a few times a week. All of this came to light at an administrative law judge hearing in front of the Honorable Carolyn Matthews where the nolo prosse form was introduced to prove Mr. Sims had no pending fraud charges that should prohibit him from holding an alcoholic beverage license. At that hearing Mr. Sims also admitted under oath to taking at least $55,000 of the money. (full transcript available— Island Cabaret Inc vs. State of SC DOR) We have also since found out Mr. Sims was a previous donor to Sheriff Tanner's campaign thru a strip club he previously ran.
In early July Mr. Bauer and myself both contacted Mr. Murdaugh to find out what was going on and why as victims we were not made aware of what was going on. Mr. Murdaugh insured me that he was also unaware of what was going on and that he would find out and get back to me. He instructed me he would have the sheriff's office thoroughly investigate the crime and I would be getting contacted by the Sheriff's Dept. And the local asst. Solicitor, Steve Knight. It took until September for asst. Solicitor Steve Knight to get back to me even after probably 30 phone calls. After an interview I consented to with Mr. Knight he cc'd me a letter dated Oct 4th stating the Sheriff's office would finally be doing an investigation. The letter was addressed to Capt David Randall (exhibit 2). Subsequent to that letter I met with Captain Randall and Sgt. Tuten. I gave them documents, a full interview, witness lists and anything else they asked for. After several calls and emails back and forth, Sgt. Tuten informed me he had investigated and in both his and Capt. Randall's opinion the had enough evidence to bring fraud charges against Mr. Simms and that they would be turning the file over to Mr. Knight, who would have to decide whether or not to prosecute. (Approx. End of Oct. 2002) After placing numerous phone calls to Mr. Knight, he has never again spoken to me since our interview. Thru his secretary he has stated he would return calls numerous times but not even once has he followed thru (at least 10 calls). I then returned to calling Mr. Murdaugh who assured me he would follow up on it. Then one evening just before the election, Mr. Murdaugh called me to tell me he would turn the case over to SLED if necessary since I would be supporting his good friend, Butch Polk in the local sheriff's election. After Mr. Polk lost the election I never heard another mention of SLED being involved. As late as December I asked Mr Murdaugh to put me in front of the grand jury when they met on Jan 13th if necessary to get an indictment against Mr. Sims. Mr. Murdaugh stated that shouldn't be necessary and he would have answers for me before the Grand Jury met. That was the last time I spoke with Mr. Murdaugh. He will not take phone calls and refuses to set an appointment to meet with myself or my attorney. This is done thru his secretary as he refuses to get on the phone since I informed his office I taped his empty promises on previous phone calls.
Also since the writing of this original letter, myself and my ex-girlfriend were harassed and threatened by Detective Bob Bromage of the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office. Mr. Bromage stated that he was best friends with Angela and PJ Tanner and if I filed any complaints against her or the Sheriff I wouldn't be able to live in Hilton Head without trouble from Dept. Mr. Bromage did subsequently handwrite an apology in April to my ex-girlfriend that says I am sorry for being so rude to you. It was uncalled for and will not happen again. I can understand why you don't like me, especially when II act like that. Please extend my apology to Mike as well. I hope you accept my apology. I will watch my drinking. (Mr. Bromage was very drunk when he threatened me originally). I faxed this apology to the local FBI officer, Mike Hagan. He originally said it sounded serious but after talking to PJ Tanner he decided to let the sheriff's office handle it, internally. It also took Mike Hagan 11 months and 20 or so phone calls before he ever talked to me about the original ripoff Mr. Sims did as I thought it may be a violation of federal wiretap fraud laws since the fed funds system was used. Sheriff Tanner never did anything except tell me I had to give him my only piece of evidence if I wanted him to look at the case because the fax copy would not suffice if I wanted action. I refused to give it to him and of course he used it as a reason for not conducting an IA investigation.
I pray for any assistance to right this wrong that you can offer. Thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this.
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