Tag: Cerro Coyote

Let’s herd a few goats and review

Cover of the latest issue of the New Orleans Levee
Cover of the latest issue of the New Orleans Levee

Folks in my zeal to tell the story of Aaron Broussard and the Goatherders I left out a few details, connections and observations that I think everyone should consider closely. So lets make some connections, one before Broussard took a plea deal and one after he took that plea deal.

Slabbed explores Aaron Broussard’s role in selling overseas investments for Danny Abel, Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret as we reintroduce Cerro Coyote SA to the Slabb ~ 9/20/12

In that piece Brother Doug posted the letter written by Carl Eberts aka Brother Carl to Aaron Broussard aka Brother Aaron that Brother Doug obtained via public records request with Jefferson Parish. It conclusively proves that Aaron Broussard sold shares in Cerro Coyote a Costa Rican based business run by Broussard strawmen Danny Abel, Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret.

But Brother Carl appears on Slabbed in another spot too as Telemachus posted a few old T-P stories on Brother Carl’s associations with former Jefferson Parish DA John “Brother John” Mamoulides. Telemachus was somehow featured in the SLAPP suit Leary and Perret filed in Nova Scotia against Fox 8 despite the fact Telemachus never commmented at Fox 8. Trust me when Brother Doug sez 3rd world doesn’t adequately describe the Nova Scotia court system when it comes to SLAPP suits. I haven’t forgotten about Brother Tom either as he is there for me to take anytime I want. Lest I digress lets get back to those excellent comments left here by Tele on my post The Slab Nation literally stretches from coast to coast as Truth in Justice tracks John Mamoulides as the reason Telemachus was SLAPPed by Broussard’s business agents in Canada comes into sharper focus:

I’m going to admit I’m having some trouble following the allegations from afar…. but Mamo had at least one prior fling of a scandal involving HUD.

Because I’m a bit tuckered I’m gonna just post these in entirety if that’s ok. A couple notes:

It looks like this is all the work of James Gill when he was on staff, as opposed to jthe op-ed guy we all know now. His experience in JP goes way back.

Jacob Karno is a guy I posted on elsewhere here a while back, the Karno name goes back in the New Orleans mafia and the current Judge Rebecca Olivier is/was (nee) a Karno.

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5.12.96 TP:

“”AAA BUILDING A 10-story office tower in Metairie built in 1972 by Jefferson Parish developer Tom Lattie, who later developed two residential subdivisions with Continue reading “Let’s herd a few goats and review”

Let’s start building the case: Allow me to reintroduce William “Hugh” Sibley to the Slabbed Nation

Sibley was a lawyer in the old Castano Group, the Louisiana based trial lawyer syndicate led by the late Wendell Gauthier that handled some of the tobacco litigation back in the 1990s. Besides Gauthier, Calvin “Calhoun” Fayard was involved as was Fayard’s political operative/lawyer associate Hugh Sibley. Trout Point Lodge owner Danny Abel was also a part of that group, trying his best to inflict his boy Vaughn Perret on the rest. After Gauthier died, time has not been kind to many of the old Castano Group members as I illustrate today with Sibley:

So why do I bring up news Slabbed covered in 2009? Sweet serendipity that’s why. Sources familiar with the Sibley’s law practice indicate to Slabbed that while Sibley was Fayard’s political go to guy, Nipun “Nick” Desai was Sibley’s right hand man. Desai, a one time college exchange student from East India that graduated from LSU in 1996, reportedly parlayed the association with Sibley into a real estate empire that stretches across Louisiana and includes the now fabled Super 8 Motel on Clearview Parkway.

This is important because Desai is a bit of a mystery man.  You see folks multiple sources have indicated to Slabbed that Desai Continue reading “Let’s start building the case: Allow me to reintroduce William “Hugh” Sibley to the Slabbed Nation”

South Coast Today Shelburne Nova Scotia: Continued legal hassles for Trout Point Lodge. More suits coming?

You betcha.  😉

New Orleans politician Aaron Broussard’s federal prosecution for fraud took another big step forward in New Orleans last week, when the disgraced Jefferson Parish president pleaded guilty to a number of charges, which he and his lawyers had previously denied.

One of the allegations made against Broussard by his ex-wife and others is that he used his ownership in Nova Scotia vacation properties and property firms to “shake down” individuals and businesses wanting to do business with the most populous parish in New Orleans.

Days later, Concrete Busters filed an amended statement of claim in an on-going suit in New Orleans, naming Kempt Wilderness Lodge Services, Trout Point Lodge Ltd. and Costa-Rica-based Cerro Coyote, SA as some of thirty-plus co-conspirators and “shell corporations” designed to hide the trail of funds passing to and through Broussard over the past twenty years.

Continue reading at the South Coast Today

Slabbed explores Aaron Broussard’s role in selling overseas investments for Danny Abel, Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret as we reintroduce Cerro Coyote SA to the Slabb

Yesterday I posted the text of a letter written to Aaron Broussard in June, 2007, a letter I obtained via Public Records Request to Jefferson Parish.  You see folks Aaron Broussard the Parish Prez and Aaron Broussard, Inc are indeed a distinction without a difference as he commingled his personal affairs with his official duties as Parish President.  To the extent he was cashing in his public service for personal gain I guess this should come as no surprise, unlike the few pleasant ones that I found going through the documents that came out of his desk last week.  😉

By now everyone knows the score with this group.  Local media outlets reported on Broussard’s use of his property at the Trout Point Development as a conduit to accept graft, a topic that federal prosecutors recently unveiled in a court filing in the Broussard payroll fraud case.  Broussard’s business agents in Nova Scotia then filed SLAPP suits against those media outlets in Nova Scotia via a practice known as libel tourism, first against the Times Picayune , then against Fox 8 and last against me.  They claim the media reported that Aaron Broussard owned Trout Point Lodge, a claim that has never been asserted on Slabbed because it was besides the point.

Multiple sources indicated to Slabbed early on that Broussard peddled all those business ventures “owned” by Danny Abel, Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret to selected members of the public and that he had a financial interest in doing so.  What the media needed was documentary evidence of that activity and to date outside of a redacted ownership agreement in Cerro Coyote posted to Slabbed nothing has surfaced except in the court case record of the SLAPP suit against Fox 8 filed by Leary and Perret in Canada.  Those documents clearly indicated that despite Charles Leary’s public statements to the contrary, he, his wife Vaughn Perret and their sugar daddy Danny Abel were intimately involved with Broussard, as his property managers and business agents with respect to the property he owned in Canada.

Something strange happened after a Slabbed commenter linked the fact the Cerro Coyote had in fact been sold:  I began receiving inquiries from Continue reading “Slabbed explores Aaron Broussard’s role in selling overseas investments for Danny Abel, Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret as we reintroduce Cerro Coyote SA to the Slabb”

Echos from a not so distant past: Slabbed explores Aaron Broussard’s involvement with Cerro Coyote SA, another company owned by Charles Leary, Vaughn Perret and Danny Abel. Part 1: The Letter

June 7, 2007

Dear Bro Aaron,

I seem to be recovering from my cancer treatments quite well and am sure with God’s Help will be back to normal in the near future. Thanks to the many prayers and especially for yours. Betty and I are planning a trip to Copenhagen and Russia this month to unwind. It seems that your Campaign is going extremely well considering the underlying problems that could pop up.

Eight years ago I purchased 2 1/2% of Cerro Coyote in Costa Rica for $10,000.00. As you probably know I have not had any benefits from this investment. It would be appreciated if you could find a buyer to take me out at cost or more. I am sure a younger and more energetic individual would enjoy such a wonderful place. Please let me know.

Vital background to set up part 2 can be found here and here. It appears some of the investors caught wind the Inn was to be sold. Stay tuned.

sop

And what a nice day it was today in Yenniville…..

Folks what I could never figure out was why Aaron Broussard was marketing those overseas travel investments for Danny Abel, Vaughn Perret and Charles Leary and I still do not know the why, but I got me the smoking gun today and will publish it soonest along with some other dynamite documents I also nabbed today.

It is my hope that all the perpetrators to this massive political corruption enterprise that Aaron Broussard led are called to account.  I know I’ll be doing my level best to facilitate that process.

sop

I previously put out the word out privately…..

But I want to make sure everyone gets the message that if your name has been mentioned on Slabbed I’d especially love to hear from you. Unlike some of my collegues I can bash and look you in the eye after. 😉

That fact of the matter is there have been people that were associated with Aaron Broussard that have reached out and it has profoundly impacted my coverage of the Jefferson Parish scandal as we search for the truth, no matter where it may lead. Along those lines I’ve been drilling down on those overseas investments Aaron Broussard peddled and the names I am seeing in the documents are very interesting indeed and this does not count other people like certain lawyers that were formerly closely connected with the Goatherder Nation.

As far as I know there are only two ways to impact Slabbed’s coverage. One way is via commenting on the posts but that way is not sure fire. The other is to make use of my handy contact page. Heck I even get complimentary copies of the NOLevee delivered postage due to my PO Box so don’t be shy since I’m not.* 😉 Continue reading “I previously put out the word out privately…..”

Let’s chat about the media and Aaron Broussard’s relationship with First Bank and Trust and tie a few things together. Part 1

OK folks it is time to come clean, sort of anyway.  Since late July I have been publishing documents courtesy of my fictional “gabby cousin Slabb O’Leak” that really did not come from him.  😉  Actually some of y’all may have noticed some redactions that are beyond my control but suffice it to say that I have found a literal pot o’ gold of Aaron Broussard personal information, between 80,000 to 90,000 pages of information in fact, including documents like the ones between Broussard and First Bank and Trust that I posted Friday.

I’ll add indeed verily I promise I have every reasonable expectation that there is lots of Goatherder jackassery contained in Slabbed’s Pot o’ Gold and I expect soon to publish full, unredacted versions of the various ownership agreements in ventures Broussard peddled such as La Ferme D’Acadie, Cerro Coyote and perhaps even Rauda House.  Slabbed has learned in the course of its exhaustive and ongoing investigation these documents were previously unknown to the investigative community, a defect I personally cured.

Here at Slabbed the tenets of my investigation follows one rule and one rule only: Follow the money.  Following money plays to my strengths and I have 425,000 reasons to follow the trail in its entirety and frankly I’m content to let the aftermath sort itself out.  Along those lines on Friday we introduced Joe Canizaro to the Slabbed Nation.  Joe is a Biloxi native made good from doing real estate development and is likely a hecto-millionaire somewhere in Tom Benson’s zip code.  Both have papal appearances on their resumes though Benson actually got the pope to genuflect and kiss his Saints Superbowl Ring. Lest I digress because unlike Benson, Canizaro had the power to have Aaron Broussard conduct business for First Bank and Trust on Parish Letterhead.  At the time Broussard was on the Board of Directors of FBT.

But in the course of my inspection of these documents there is another story line that I began developing last month that has since come into very sharp focus and that would be the story of the media, specifically how they handed the then unfolding scandal in Jefferson Parish, the second most populous parish in Louisiana and the most populous of the 7 parish NOLA Metro area.  In particular we examine the TeeVee stations today, which cover events like the Red Dress run in NOLA for charity in-depth, but never have a reporter to spare to cover Parish council meetings. Continue reading “Let’s chat about the media and Aaron Broussard’s relationship with First Bank and Trust and tie a few things together. Part 1”

Feeling blue that Aaron Broussard shook you down for money to build vacation hotels and lodges overseas?

Well folks all you gotta do is make one call thats all.

I mention this because of an excellent column written last week by the T-P’s Stephanie Grace about all the Parish venders/contractors whose names have popped up in the ongoing federal investigation into Aaron Broussard’s shithouse business dealings. Slabbed of course has been on the cutting edge mentioning names such as Ralph Fontcuberta Jr. that are connected to Broussard’s land and business dealings at the Trout Point Development near East Kempt Nova Scotia. Grace made some very insightful points including this one:

Among the facts that the document claims “the Government would have proven” beyond a reasonable doubt, are these: That throughout his nearly two terms as parish president, Broussard pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars from contractors and vendors, under the guise of “retainers,” “consulting fees” or “finder’s fees.” And that Broussard was majority owner in a holding company that owned income-generating property in Canada, which was partially funded by people who did business with the parish.

So what does Broussard’s appetite for other people’s money have to do with Parker’s confession?

Not a lot, in a legal sense, anyway. Parker admitted only to knowing about the felony in which she’s the central figure, not any alleged misdeeds that stem from a much broader and deeper pattern of corruption on her then-husband’s watch. You could argue that the additional allegations don’t belong in this document at all, since Broussard has not been formally accused, let alone convicted, of the other offenses.

Yet U.S. Attorney Jim Letten and his prosecutors included it for a reason. More likely, many reasons.

The passage serves as a warning to Broussard and Wilkinson on two fronts: They now know that Parker, who has agreed to cooperate in exchange for a vastly reduced charge that shortens her potential prison time from nearly 600 years to three, is telling the feds everything she knows about Broussard’s relationships with all those parish businesspeople. And Broussard in particular knows that he’s got to worry about a lot more than the payroll fraud charges if he doesn’t cut his own deal. Continue reading “Feeling blue that Aaron Broussard shook you down for money to build vacation hotels and lodges overseas?”

Sop gets a cyber first: Behavioral finance/economics intersects with Slabbed. An Aaron Broussard/Trout Point Lodge Update.

Some of my better received work here on Slabbed deals with the topic of behavioral finance/economics.  That said when my curiosity compelled me to enter the laboratory I invariably would go to the Yahoo Finance Boards and issues like Allstate or the pump and dump de jour such as XING.

Cerro Coyote has changed that folks and I want to give everyone a flavor for what I am seeing by communicating with people on this topic.  After all this blog is called Slabbed, a sizable portion of our readership was slabbed by Hurricane Katrina not that long ago. Before we get to “the finance” part of behavioral finance we must start with the behavioral. Universally the investors I have heard from share 3 common traits:

1. They were sold a small stake in Cerro Coyote as evidenced by the stock purchase agreement I posted here on Slabbed last year.
2. They have found out via Slabbed the Inn at Coyote Mountain, the major asset of Cerro Coyote has been sold.
3. They have not yet received anything back on their investment.

So what do people feel upon learn such information?  The answer lies in the Kübler-Ross model and Wiki does a very good job explaining it:

The Kübler-Ross model, commonly known as The Five Stages of Grief, was a theory first introduced by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying. Continue reading “Sop gets a cyber first: Behavioral finance/economics intersects with Slabbed. An Aaron Broussard/Trout Point Lodge Update.”