Bleh,
from the beginning. I'm probably leaving out some things, like I'm not
sure how much the U-haul cost to move us out of Van's place, I just
don't remember. :-\
I, Justin Foster, hereby certify that the
below is true and correct to the best of my recollection, and that where
noted I have supporting documentation (ed: though it may be buried in
boxes).
In May 2007 my Mother relayed to me an offer to work for Van Hughes.
The work would entail software and hardware research for establishing
the viability of a particular design of wireless networking to provide
mobile broadband, HDTV, VoIP, VoD, etc., services. The compensation was
to be 100k shares in the company that would fund the project, stated
shares to be worth no less then $.89 a share when the project went
public, and a years worth of basic living expenses (room and board).
In June I took a trip down to Charlotte, NC and worked with Van's
son Austin for three weeks on the project. I slept on an inflatable
mattress in the office, and would begin work when Austin showed up in
the morning, we would work all day, and then I'd go to bed the moment he
left at night. ~15-16 hours a day, for three weeks. Every other day
Austin would drive me to Van's house for a shower.
I returned to Ohio for three weeks, then moved down to NC with my fiancee, Renee. She had to quit her job as an E.R. Nurse and go through
the hassle of finding a new job to come with me. We moved into a room in
a house Van said he was renting, and would be moving into, in
Blacksburg, SC, just over the border. It wasn't a very big room and
nearly all our stuff had to remain packed, and our furniture had to be
left in the living room which would seen be overflowing with all Van's
junk. We lived there alone for a couple of weeks, I took care of setting
up internet for the place because Van said he was to busy, and I needed
internet to work. Renee also needed it to job hunt.
My first job on moving down was to begin helping Van move. First the
office building that I had stayed in previously needed to be emptied,
as it was going to be demolished. Then his personal residence had to be
moved. We spent a week, in the hottest week in August on record, moving
things. Van asked me to loan him some money for the truck and the moving
guys, which I did. Mr. Hughes made several other requests for money, or
items he wished me to pick up, which I also helped with. Mr. Hughes
stated I would be paid back, with interest.
Van's son came down again, and we continued working on the project
for which I had been hired. We ran into several technical hurdles for
which we would need specialized equipment. Mr. Hughes declined to buy
said equipment. Austin left as he was not able to keep working for no
pay, he said he had rent to pay. I continued to work on the project as
best I could, but we had taken it as far as it could go without an
infusion of money to procure hardware, software, and more technical
expertise. Mr. Hughes provided none of these, so the project was a stand
still.
In March of '08 Mr. Hughes told me I had to move out. There was no
provocation for this announcement, nothing had happened. Since we were
only six months into our one year contract, I was understandably
shocked, particularly since my Fiancee and I had loaned so much of our
savings to Mr. Hughes, we would find moving out to be very uncomfortable
financially. He threatened quote "Look, I know the Sheriff, either you
move out or I'll get him to come over here and throw you out." Feeling
my safety was threatened, I told Mr. Hughes I would move out if he paid
me what he owed me in loans, and half the promised compensation for the
work I had done. He agreed to repay the loans, after I had moved out so
he could use the room as storage for things in his truck, which I had a
bought a bumper for. He claimed he would sell the truck and repay me
from that. No mention was made of paying me for the six months of work
owed. He further said if I didn't get out, he'd consider the loan "rent"
for the time I'd spent in the house. One tiny room for two people at at
over $1,000.00 a month would of course be highway robbery, and I told
him as much.
In the end, on the advice of my Mother, we moved out and hoped he
would be repay me. He shook my hand and promised me the money would be
repayed within a week of my moving out. I haven't seen a dime of it.
Further, when I filed a motion with the local court to force Mr. Hughes
to pay me, he filed a counter motion trying me get me to pay HIM the
exact same amount. I can't imagine why. I've since moved away from the
area and am unable to continue pursuing the issue at this time.
Please find below an itemized list of the loans, expenses, etc., which I am owed by Mr. Hughes.
Business
$55.45- Car Trailer
$33.25 - Trailer
$381.40 - Truck
$83.07 - Gas for U-haul
$1,500.00 - Mario's Guys
$301.09 - Torch/Nails
$6.44 - Bolts and Washer
$30.90 - Bricks
$2,000.00 - Loan
$177.50 - Truck grille plus shipping.
$500.00 - Interest? You said you'd pay 5k when you owed roughly 4.5k.
$70.65 - Hemp Oil/Protein
Total: $5,139.75
Personal
$14.81 - Walgreens
$85.37 (-$4 for Mushrooms) - Sams Club
$15.42 - Olive Oil
Total: $115.60
Cable
$160 (rebate) - $125 (initial cost) = +$35
$60 - activation fee
$129.74 - (First full bill + pro-rated first month, paid in a block because they overcharged and had to call and correct)
$83.87 - Third Month
$208.71 (two months paid at once, had to get them to correct something first)
$96.18 - Sixth Month
$125.50 - Seventh Month (introductory rate is no more)
Total: $669.00
Expenses Resulting From Forced Eviction in Violation of Agreement
$8.016.00- 12 months rent at $698, was forced into a 12 month lease because of Mr. Hughes violation of our contract.
$89,000.00 - Payment for services rendered in lieu of promised shares.
Overall Total: $102,592.35 + any applicable interest, damages, or penalties.
