All-Star Craig El Arrested For Stealing From Gymtyme Ga Families

[ChicagoCheerDad]

Gym owner charged in cheerleading fee thefts

Hopefully this will make gym owners think twice about taking advantage of cheerleaders and their families.

 

[ChicagoCheerDad]

Here is the TV News report with a lot more information:

Atlanta News Videos | WSB-TV

 

[dat.jpp]

There a bit late as this already happened longer before Jesus was around, don't you think?

 

[Gobig!!]

A sad story all the way around. I don't believe that Craig had intentions of embezzling any money. I believe he simply got in over his head trying to grow too fast without the financial backing to support the growth and ended up robbing Peter to pay Paul.
That being said I would be irate if I was a victim at that gym. Lord knows this is expensive enough of a sport without having to cover fees twice much less the turmoil that the kids had to go through.

Maybe it's time to find a different format for the parents to pre pay comp fees? Maybe the fees paid so far in advance should be paid to the competition companies? That opens that door to the same issues. Anytime that these gym owners have these funds sitting around for months in advance gives them false sense of security in cash flow.


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[Nothanks]

There a bit late as this already happened longer before Jesus was around, don't you think?

I'm pretty sure this was only brought to attention around nca-ish. And since the article was written yesterday with the actual details of the arrest (which was also yesterday), I'd say it's still pretty current. Last we talked about it on here (to my knowledge) it was still gossip and no one knew what would come for the families that lost money.


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[quitthedrama]

I'm pretty sure this was only brought to attention around nca-ish. And since the article was written yesterday with the actual details of the arrest (which was also yesterday), I'd say it's still pretty current. Last we talked about it on here (to my knowledge) it was still gossip and no one knew what would come for the families that lost money.


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Agreed. The DUI charge is new as well. Given his actions on both fronts, I have zero sympathy for him.

 

[SthrnCheerMom]

It came out right before Cheersport Nationals. There was question as to if the teams would get to compete. They were able to.

A sad story all the way around. I don't believe that Craig had intentions of embezzling any money. I believe he simply got in over his head trying to grow too fast without the financial backing to support the growth and ended up robbing Peter to pay Paul.
That being said I would be irate if I was a victim at that gym. Lord knows this is expensive enough of a sport without having to cover fees twice much less the turmoil that the kids had to go through.

Maybe it's time to find a different format for the parents to pre pay comp fees? Maybe the fees paid so far in advance should be paid to the competition companies? That opens that door to the same issues. Anytime that these gym owners have these funds sitting around for months in advance gives them false sense of security in cash flow.


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Aside from the families that paid in full, at our previous gym (and the one we are thinking of moving to) we had 6 months of booster fees paid out. That included our comp fees. The funds were sitting there for extremely long amounts of time.

 

[SthrnCheerMom]

Here is the TV News report with a lot more information:

Atlanta News Videos | WSB-TV

Oops. Did you see that they did the first report at 4pm in front of the wrong gym?! Doh!

 

[ACEDAD]

If he's found guilty, I hope he has to pay restitution (however that can happen) and does a lot of jail time.


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[King]

It doesn't matter intent if you do something wrong. You can be texting and driving and kill someone, but never intend to. I bring that up to say if you are going to want to run a business you take on the responsibility to do it right.

 

[alpaca]

Oops. Did you see that they did the first report at 4pm in front of the wrong gym?! Doh!

This was ridiculous to me. Due diligence in reporting. Some intern got fired over that mistake.

 

[Gobig!!]

It doesn't matter intent if you do something wrong. You can be texting and driving and kill someone, but never intend to. I bring that up to say if you are going to want to run a business you take on the responsibility to do it right.

A little different than your scenario. Unfortunately lots of businesses fail. I don't think he had a good business model to begin with in Illinois.
If he took money fraudulently then he needs to pay the piper. If the business just failed because of lack of income then don't think there is anything legal that will happen. Either way he absolutely should be responsible for paying back the parents that prepaid for comps their monies. My guess is there is nothing left for him to pay this money from.


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[King]

A little different than your scenario. Unfortunately lots of businesses fail. I don't think he had a good business model to begin with in Illinois.
If he took money fraudulently then he needs to pay the piper. If the business just failed because of lack of income then don't think there is anything legal that will happen. Either way he absolutely should be responsible for paying back the parents that prepaid for comps their monies. My guess is there is nothing left for him to pay this money from.


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The way it is being portrayed is not that his business model wasn't correct, but that the money went elsewhere.


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[Gobig!!]

The way it is being portrayed is not that his business model wasn't correct, but that the money went elsewhere.


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If that's how it plays out then he deserves everything he gets.... we spent 2 years at his gym in Illinois and I just don't think that's how the guy was. I can tell you he was very actively trying to find a cash infusion to fix the issues he was facing as he reached out to me a few weeks prior to this info making news originally. He definitely didn't understand how to control expenses very well. Way too big of a facility etc.
it's sad to see how he has fallen but as said before it's sad for the kids and parents as well.


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[cheer25mom]

If that's how it plays out then he deserves everything he gets.... we spent 2 years at his gym in Illinois and I just don't think that's how the guy was. I can tell you he was very actively trying to find a cash infusion to fix the issues he was facing as he reached out to me a few weeks prior to this info making news originally. He definitely didn't understand how to control expenses very well. Way too big of a facility etc.
it's sad to see how he has fallen but as said before it's sad for the kids and parents as well.


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He is still responsible if he spent money specifically paid to him for comp fees on something else. He should have to pay them back at a minimum.


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