TAPSCon 2 – The Belleview Biltmore Responds to Brent Fair’s Charges
by Karen Frazier, Managing Editor
Paranormal Underground e-Magazine
In a previous post, we posted what TAPS and Brent Fair were saying about TAPSCon 2, and we mentioned that we were waiting to hear back from the Belleview Biltmore. Their attorney responded with an email and documents. Here is the email in its entirety:
Ms. Frazier:
My name is Tom Reynolds. George Rahdert of this office and I serve as local legal counsel for the owner of the Belleview Biltmore Hotel (the “Hotel”) located in Belleair, Florida.
Martin Smith, the General Manager of the Hotel, forwarded your e-mail dated 5/27/09 relative to the accusations made by Mr. Fair on his website. He requested that I respond to your request for information regarding those allegations.
In a nutshell, our client categorically denies Mr. Fair’s false and defamatory allegations of wrongdoing. A comprehensive summary of what actually occurred is set forth in the attached letters between Mr. Fair’s former legal counsel and this office. The subject correspondence was generated in connection with Mr. Fair’s earlier threat to sue the Hotel over the same matters which now appear on his website. Although his website implies that he filed a lawsuit, he has not actually done so. In our opinion, such a case would be unsuccessful to say the least. If he does actually file, the Hotel will without question countersue for the thousands of dollars which it is still owed from the 2008 event.
Additionally, we are not sure if Mr. Fair has returned the prepaid deposits for the aborted 2009 event. You may want to pursue this additional information which seems of relevance to your prospective article.
I trust that this information is sufficient for your present purposes. However, if you have any additional questions, please contact me. My phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX.
/s/ Thomas E. Reynolds
Thomas E. Reynolds
Mr. Reynolds was kind enough to supply the documents that were sent back and forth between Brent Fair’s attorney and the Belleview’s attorney detailing Mr. Fair’s accusations and the Biltmore’s response to said accusations.
feldman-rcvd-12-30-08-ltr-00011
We are attempting to contact Mr. Fair for comment.
In the meantime, take a look at all of the material we have provided in this post and our previous post and draw your own conclusions.
More information from the Belleview Biltmore clarifying the use of The Atlantic Paranormal Society on some of the attached documents can be found here. Please read.
I was clueless about this whole thing but upon review of your posts. it makes me angry that the good image of Taps was misused by this guy.Hope all potential participants contact media to assist in getting refunds.The real TAPS folks make it clear that it was not their project.Bet they wish it never happened at all.Thanks for the info though…
The breakdown chart says “the atlantic paranormal society! at the top of it! – How does taps not have a part in this??
WTF
When we (scifake) broke this story in Feb., I spoke to Mr. Smith and he informed me the truth will be told at the appropriate time and he basically told me Brent was a liar! Now, it’s obvious Mr. Fair is a con (including Nancy) and he has lied to his fans and to his attorney.
It seems from the evidence Brent has his head up Jason Butt and Jason has his hand in Brent’s wallet. I’m sure Jason knew of nothing about Brent’s financial woes; however, Jason …next time, don’t allow a fool to use your name.
This all seems pretty cut and dried (though I am sure it really isn’t). Brent Fair has no idea how to facilitate an event like this and totally screwed it up, then blamed the Belleview when they had to take it over. A few observations:
1) The letter from his “attorney” has multiple punctuation and spelling errors which make me doubt it was written by a legal entity at all.
2) The response to Brent Fair’s “attorney” states very clearly that the 2009 event was terminated in November…and ticket holders still didn’t know about it the day of the event? Surely Brent Fair couldn’t misunderstand that word! Terminated is pretty final! And having not fulfilled the obligations of the new contract..it is the last word.
It appears everyone involved with TAPSCon manipulated the truth to keep from taking blame. Also clear is the fact that Brent Fair has already used the proceeds of TAPSCon2 and has no intentions of returning one cent of it. I have two words for the folks who want their money back:
Class Action!
I knew Jason Hawes was lying the minute that he denied ANY involvement with TAPSCON. How do I know that you might ask??? Simple–because his lips were moving! That man lies constantly in order to cover his tracks. The lying, tyrannical, manipulative bully has been caught in yet another lie—big surprise—NOT! And his little buddy Brent Fair is being fully exposed yet AGAIN for being the lying, low-life, con artist that he is. All of these degenerates need to be fully exposed and law suits need to be filed against ALL of them, period. It’s about time people took a stand against such obvious chicanery!
Pingback: Legal documents involving Mr. Brent Fair, TAPS and the Belleview. | SciFake.com
Not only is the demand letter from Mr. Fair’s “attorney” full of spelling and grammatical errors, but the front page (with the firm’s letterhead) is crooked, as though an existing legal document was whited over and a fake document was pasted in it’s place. Exactly the sort of tactic that a man in over his head would try in order to buy himself some time and leverage to allow the 2009 event to occur.
It would seem fairly clear that he did not fully understand the scope of his obligations in arranging an event of this magnitude, and that he was under the impression that he could do anything he wanted that was not expressly forbidden in the contract. Frankly, with that level of naivete and incompetence, it’s a wonder he hasn’t found his way into government service yet.
I’ve never been a fan of TAPS, but I have nothing against them personally. In my opinion, they need to cut all ties with Brent Fair before he drags them down any further. While it’s admirable to stick up for your friends, it’s also foolish to give them enough rope to hang the both of you.
I’m in agreement with Enigma and TheJybian; lawsuits should be filed against all entities and the letter looks to be bogus!
However, I don’t think TAPS was involved or knew about Brent’s intentions to deceive! BUT, Jason did know about the name being used and I am 99 percent positive he gave Brent permission to use the name with good intentions.
Some (very few) still think this is Brent’s only attempt to defraud; however, Brent has allegedly defrauded good people in the past using his ebay account.
It’s obvious Brent was STILL selling tickets to an event that was canceled (terminated) and in my opinion (I’m not a lawyer) this is fraud! Mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, just fraud and more fraud! Maybe he’s looking at some serious felonies?
In addition Taps is being brought into the middle of this and still Jason has yet to denounce Brent publicly.
Many fans are coming forward denouncing Taps and some are starting to see right through the BS!
I can tell you one hundred percent (100%), no one at scifake.com has ever made this a personal fight! This is all business; however, some of Brent’s simple minded cohorts have attacked us on a personal level just to get closer to TAPS. I can name two people who have inundated the internet with lies and deceit just to be known as the martyr! Simpletons in my opinion.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to credibility and dignity! After all, a person can be judged by the company he keeps and Jason is keeping Brent’s company close to his wallet!
Have a great day everyone.
Pingback: Hero Worship
We too were scammed for this event. Brent Fair deserves nothing less than jail time. This is fraud and he should not be able to scam any other unsuspecting people. We must not let our efforts to seek justice disappear like our money has.
Great post! Just wanted to let you know you have a new subscriber- me!
Pingback: TAPSCon Update - Jason Hawes Responds
Pingback: TAPSCon 2 - More from the Belleview Biltmore’s Attorney
Pingback: TAPS Con 2- All in One Place
Hi, good post. I have been woondering about this issue,so thanks for posting. I’ll definitely be coming back to your site.
Has anyone contacted Sci-fi about all of this, I’m sure that they would drop TAPS in a nano second if they had any idea what TAPS was doing. I think that since SCIFIFAKE has the information and the people that were to attend along with TV 10 report on this, that the information sould be sent to the Sci-fi Chanel…The way to get rid of cons is to cut off their source of income.. Jason Grant and the whole gang of frauds will then be exposed for what they are frauds…
I wrote to Sci-Fi and Pilgrim Pictures yesterday. I did not use negative language regarding the two “stars” of GH; but just mentioned that Mr. Fair has run off with an undisclosed amount of money with regard to a convention under the TAPS name.
I will continue to write them everyday with the same letter, until someone takes notice. Believe me, I worked for a TV station once upon a time. They just throw it aside unless: 1) There are a lot of complaints about the same thing; 2) It’s potentially negative-looking to the TV station or logo (stealing money often is).
For those who still have doubts about the connection: http://tapscon2.com/changes.html
Interesting that this is still available online WITH the pictures, WITH the logo, and WITH the dates and place still intact. I’d say, we should find a lawsuit when this originally came out with the misuse of TAPS logos and pictures. Has anyone found one filed?
Keep writing letters; it does work eventually. I’m filing with D.O.J., and sent letters to Dateline NBC and the Internet Crimes Bureau today, as well as letters to his former ghosthunting pals in different states…anywhere I found BRENT FAIR associated with anyone, they received letters.
My six hundred dollars isn’t a lot to some, but it is a lot to me! Just like any amount you lost is a lot to you. You worked for it, and how dare this person run off with it.
Good luck all!
It seems like a “he said, she said” kind of thing. It’s snowballed out of control and if only Mr. Fair knew that the minute details of everything he wrote and said a year ago would suddenly be relevant and considered “telling evidence” in retrospect…
I tend to believe that Mr. Fair is not a malicious evildoer. And the hotel is definitely charging him, IMO, tons of expenses he didn’t agree to. Special event staff is usually the lowest on the hotel totem-pole, despite their white suits and fine manners. I know several “special event” servers intimately, and I have no trouble believing that the staff would be responsible for completely screwing things up and letting the hotel management and the client deal with it later. But, also IMO, he is in way over his head, and desperate, to say the least. And being really righteously mad at him doesn’t make him evil, nor does it make the bad decisions both sides have made repair themselves and put your hard-earned money back in your pocket. Take the emotion out of it.
Where is the fraud? He is not selling tickets anymore, is he? He still believes he may be able to salvage an event for 2009 in SOME capacity, so he does not want to just give up on every site he has. He is not posting a schedule of the event…I guess I’m trying to think of what I’d do differently if I was in his position. I thought he has refunded some of the money? He is guilty at the very least, IMO, of being a bad businessman. Thinking that if he uses this 2009 event collected money to get himself out of this mess it’ll repair itself and he can then actually put on the 2009 event. But, instead it appears he’s getting deeper and the stink is getting stronger and any money is going, going, gone. If I’ve misunderstood any of the facts of the matter, I hope someone will post after me and set me straight.
What I don’t understand is why the hotel is being so legally loud and immovable in this matter. It’s generated so much bad publicity that even if he is a complete scam artist, they appear petty and implacable as though they have no sense of customer relations at all. Surely, this has cost them more in lost revenue and legal fees than the disputed amount of the 2008 bill. There almost seems to be some emotional battle of wills going on with the hotel mgmt.
Would you hold an event there?
Shopping Cart
Our Latest Magazine
12-Month Digital Subscription Only $19.99!
12-Month Digital Subscription to Paranormal Underground Magazine (12 Digital Issues at More Than 15% Off the Cover Price!)
$19.99 Add to cartSubscribe Now for Updates
Video Gallery