A Tea Party group has erupted into dissension with financial backers of a new TV network claiming a “sham.” The founder responds by challenging plaintiffs to a televised “lie detector challenge.”
Investors of a television network that purported to be the “world’s first HD provider of news about the Tea Party” have filed a lawsuit claiming the television network was really “an investment scheme to defraud politically conservative-minded citizens who support the Tea Party mission.”
The lawsuit was filed late last month in Tennessee federal court against Tea Party HD founder Anthony Loiacono.
According to the complaint, Tea Party HD was conceived in 2010, and Loiacono prepared an “Investment Brief” to lure potential investors.
Prospective backers were told that Loiacono had put up $60,000, but the lawsuit says he did no such thing. Nevertheless, upon promises that the new network would make nearly $19 million before the end of the third year, investors were offered “membership” and a percentage point of financial rights if they put up $35,000.
One initial backer, Bill Hemrick, put up $60,000. Another investor, James Huffnagle, contributed $70,000. Three other individuals chipped in $35,000 each, and a sixth man contributed $17,500. All six are now plaintiffs in this lawsuit.
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